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United Methodists to launch malaria prevention program

Aug. 8, 2005

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK (UMNS) - When the Rev. R. Randy Day talks with United Methodist
pastors in Africa, each one personally knows someone who has died from
malaria.

About 90 percent of the 300 million to 600 million people affected by
this preventable and treatable disease live in sub-Saharan Africa. A
fifth of the region's children under age 5 die from malaria.

"It impacts the larger Methodist family across Africa and all other
Africans," Day said.

That's why the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries - where Day
serves as chief executive - is creating a health ministry to help
eradicate the disease.

While malaria remains a global problem, it is the leading cause of death
among young children in Africa, killing a child every 30 seconds,
according to the World Health Organization.

The United Methodist Community Based Malaria Prevention Program will be
launched on a small scale in Sierra Leone in early December. Cherian
Thomas, M.D., an executive with the board's health and welfare unit, is
in charge of the program, which will be administered through the United
Methodist Committee on Relief.

Day believes that being able to significantly reduce the number of
malaria deaths is "a matter of spiritual and political will."

Although the program's initial budget is small, "on faith, we're
stepping out to say we think United Methodists will respond," he added.

A special fund for the malaria prevention program has been established
with the denomination's Advance for Christ and His Church, a
"second-mile" voluntary giving program. The Advance Special offers a way
for United Methodists to participate in the malaria program as
individuals or through local churches, districts and conferences. As a
mission project, the program touches upon issues of health care, poverty
and the needs of children.

Day hopes the church can coordinate its efforts with aid groups working
on the malaria problem, in particular by providing an infrastructure to
reach local communities. "One of the great advantages we have is that we
are a grass-roots organization," he said.

Although medical diagnosis and treatment of malaria cases is important,
"equally important is the community mobilization for prevention," Thomas
said. "That's the tough one."

The United Methodist Maternity and Health Center in Kissy, Sierra Leone,
will host a workshop in early December to begin training. Participants
are expected from Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and Nigeria.

To be successful, each community must assume responsibility for the
prevention project, according to Thomas. Community prevention techniques
include the identification and cleanup of mosquito breeding grounds, the
use of proper mosquito netting, and the use of medicines for prevention
and treatment.

The distribution of insecticide-treated nets for beds to all children in
malaria zones, along with the use of effective drug treatment, is listed
among the "quick wins" of the United Nations' Millennium Project.

But such tools often do not get to those who need them, according to the
All-Party Parliamentary Malaria Group of the British House of Commons.

"Determined action by the international community, sustained over
decades, is now needed," the group said in its "Tackle Malaria Today"
report. "This would involve scaling up integrated control programs over
entire regions and combining the best weapons we have - drugs,
insecticide-treated malaria nets and house spraying - in a science-based
strike to both prevent and control malaria. In parallel, a major hike in
investment in research to develop new and better drugs and other tools
is essential."

At July's Group of Eight summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, world leaders
pledged to work with African countries on malaria in order "to reach 85
percent of vulnerable populations with the key interventions that will
save 600,000 children's lives a year by 2015 and reduce the drag on
African economies from this preventable and treatable disease."

The goal of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership is to "halve the burden of
malaria by 2010." The partnership was developed in 1998 by the World
Health Organization, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Program and
the World Bank. Actions include raising awareness, mobilizing resources
for malaria control and promoting research for more effective tools
against the disease.

"Malaria-endemic countries are caught in a vicious circle of disease and
poverty," Roll Back Malaria reported. "Malaria slows a country's
economic growth, discourages foreign investment and tourism, discourages
the development of internal trade and adversely affects people's choice
of economic activities while depleting human resources."

The economic cost of malaria for Africa is estimated at $12 billion
annually.

"Ultimately, malaria has to be integrated with other community health
issues," Thomas said, adding that the community-based program also will
address issues such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

Donations, payable to the United Methodist Committee on Relief, should
be designated to Advance No. 982009, "Malaria Control." Checks can be
dropped in church collection plates or mailed directly to UMCOR at P.O.
Box 9068, New York, NY 10087-9068. Credit-card donations can be made by
calling, toll free, (800) 554-8583.

UMCOR also has prepared a church bulletin insert on the malaria program
that can be downloaded from www.umcor.org by clicking on the resources
link.

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

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