Jhpiego Comments On World Malaria Day 2008 - By President, CEO Dr. Leslie Mancuso

Main Category: Tropical Diseases
Article Date: 23 Apr 2008 - 3:00 PDT

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As we consider the disastrous affects of malaria and how far we have come in battling the disease, the world health community is now looking beyond country borders, building on innovations and organizing global attention to this disease by establishing World Malaria Day 2008.

As unbelievable as it is, approximately 40% of the world's population, mostly those living in low-resource settings, are at risk of malaria. Each year, more than 500 million people become severely ill due to malaria, more than one million of whom will die. Those who suffer the greatest burden of the disease are pregnant women and young children.

It is scientifically proven that malaria is both preventable and curable yet so few women and their families have access to the necessary health care to prevent and treat the disease. These are the women at greatest risk of dying.

Jhpiego, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University, is working to combat the devastating effects of malaria by bringing innovative approaches and putting research to practice to improve the health of women and families throughout the world. Jhpiego was among the first recipients of U.S. funding from the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), and has since expanded its PMI work into multiple countries. Jhpiego, through its U.S. government-funded ACCESS Program, has taken a global leadership role in spearheading the work of an international Malaria in Pregnancy Working Group. ACCESS provides technical assistance to African countries that have Global Fund grants for malaria to assist with program implementation. Jhpiego has affected changes in malaria policy and assisted in the capacity development of trainers, providers and managers to build country-level expertise in prevention.

One of our most exciting projects is in Nigeria where Jhpiego is preparing community volunteers to extend malaria services to pregnant women who are not in contact with the formal healthcare services. The volunteers are trained to educate pregnant women on steps to prevent malaria. In addition to education, the workers also distribute preventative medicine and insecticide-treated bednets.

Once rolled out to full scale, this community based intervention will help break down some of the barriers to high-quality health care for the world's most vulnerable populations.

Jhpiego is a leader in developing innovations that break down the barriers and build more sustainable local health care systems globally. With the assistance of local and national administrations in affected countries, corporate partners, and other organizations, we are gaining momentum to lower the incidence of malaria in Africa and around the world.

Dr. Leslie Mancuso is available to discuss Jhpiegos cervical cancer programs and resources.

To learn more about Jhpiego's work in malaria visit http://www.jhpiego.org/whatwedo/malaria.htm.

Johns Hopkins University