The Fight Against Malaria
Tell people you're going to Africa and note how often they ask, "Did you get your shots?" Followed by the admonition to "watch out for the mosquitoes!" Doesn't matter whether they've ever been to sub-Saharan Africa or not, certain truths seem to be common knowledge, and the tragic reality of malaria in Africa seems to be one that has gained traction as a cautionary tale of what to prepare for and do one's best to avoid.
Listen to veteran travelers and note how often they discuss--even debate--the relative merits of different repellants and preventive medications (there is a whole folklore based on the adverse effects of common drugs). What to avoid, what to wear, when to go, where to go, where not to go, and what to do if—in spite of all these efforts—one becomes ill.
There's the reality of malaria, and there's the reality of malaria's shadow. Both extract their toll in a bloody, reinforcing partnership that destroys millions of lives, devastates national economies, and adds one more impediment to international investment and trade that hurts Africa and its potential trading partners. There's also the ugly face of malaria that isn't adequately expressed in a million dead each year: 85% of its victims--those who die as oppose to "live" with it---are African children under the age of five.
On September 25, 2008, as democratic candidate for the United States presidency, Senator Barack Obama made a campaign pledge of taking the international lead in "ending all deaths from malaria by 2015," going on to elaborate, "This effort must bring together governments from around the world. It must be a public-private partnership that draws on the resources, and ideas, and resilience of business and non-profits and faith groups." (The Clinton Global Initiative, New York, see below)
"We have eliminated malaria in the United States, but nearly one million people around the world still die from a mosquito bite every year. Eighty-five percent of the victims are African children under the age of five.
In Africa, a child dies from a mosquito bite every thirty seconds. Beyond the devastating human toll, malaria weighs down public health systems, setting back global capacity to fight other disease . . . So today, I want to join with the global malaria community that is meeting here in New York in making a new commitment: when I am President, we will set the goal of ending all deaths from malaria by 2015. It's time to rid the world of death from a disease that doesn't have to take lives. The United States must lead, and when I am President we will step up our focus on prevention and treatment around the world to get this done...This effort must bring together governments from around the world. It must be a public-private partnership that draws on the resources, and ideas, and resilience of business and non-profits and faith groups. It must be a cause for countless individuals, and a common goal that unites us all."
Remarks of senator Barack Obama: The Clinton
Global Initiative, 25 September 2008, New York.
Please note: Material Culture donates a minimum of 5% from ALL net sales related to DREAMS OF MY BROTHER to the winnable fight against malaria.
