Mosquito nets against malaria: action with great effect
More children and pregnant women die of malaria in Africa than in AIDS and tuberculosis. There is a simple and inexpensive prevention: impregnated mosquito nets. Only about nine euros cost production and transport of a network. Three years ago, the ChroniquesDuVasteMonde and the German Green Cross launched the fundraiser "Das Netz, das Leben retten". With such great success, the doctor and project manager Sigrid Ley-Köllstadt says that she absolutely wants to continue the campaign.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: How many mosquito nets have been distributed so far?
Ley-Köllstadt: The ChroniquesDuVasteMonde readers and pupils of the campaign "Children for Children against Malaria" have donated 100,000 euros. Of these, 11,000 were purchased and distributed to families by Ethiopian Ministry of Health employees in recent months.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: What's so special about the nets?
Ley-Köllstadt: They are impregnated with a remedy that is harmless to humans, but keeps away the mosquitoes that transmit the disease. In addition, the nets are so large that several family members can sleep under it, because there are hardly any cots in Africa. The mosquitoes do not attack until dark. Sleeping women and children under the net, so much has been achieved.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: Why is malaria particularly dangerous for children?
Ley-Köllstadt: Malaria kills about one million children every year in Africa. In small children under five, but also in pregnant women, the disease is particularly difficult. Many adults, on the other hand, have partial immunity. They get sick, but not life threatening.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: When will there be effective drugs or a malaria vaccine?
Ley-Köllstadt: The drugs that tourists take when they fly to Africa or Asia are priceless to the people there. But the pill ration for a two-week vacation trip costs as much as a resident of Niger has to live for one year, for example. The cause of the disease are parasites that mosquitoes transmit to humans. In the body, the pathogen undergoes a very complicated cycle. That is why it is so difficult to develop an effective vaccine. The mosquito nets are the best measure name for so long.
ChroniquesDuVasteMonde.com: How should the action continue?
Ley-Köllstadt: The networks have to be replaced every three years, because then they no longer protect enough. So we need to keep donating. The disease is not an epidemic that passes like a flu epidemic.
Who would like to donate: The German Green Cross is a non-profit association for health prevention and works closely with the World Health Organization (WHO). Special account: German Green Cross, Commerzbank Kassel, account number 2880235, bank code 520 400 21, keyword Malaria
