In just one three-month period, 180,000 cases of Malaria were reported in the Northwest region of Cameroon. Of those cases, approximately 1/3 died. A disease that could have been prevented took 60,000 lives, those mostly of women and children, too soon. Still, however, many Cameroonians resist sleeping under mosquito nets…
We hope to change that with our newest endeavor, the Malaria Free Zone project.
OUR MISSION
While bed nets are effective in preventing the transmission of malaria while one sleeps, it may not be enough. Just getting up to use the bathroom at night might result in a lethal bug bite. The MFZ project does not limit itself to bed nets. Instead, we aim to use recycled bed nets as window and door screens to keep the mosquitos out at all times of the day. Or, as Cameroonians say, “Let air in, keep bugs out”. It is a simple solution, making it all the more valuable and possible.
- Reduce the number of hospital-acquired cases of malaria. My chief of post in one village said it clearly: “A mother brings her child with diarrhea to the hospital and carries it home with Malaria.” By preventing mosquitos from getting into hospitals, we hope to avoid the transmission of malaria between patients from occurring in the first place.
- Reduce the percentage of income that Cameroonians have to spend on Malaria-related admissions. A family spends more than 30% of their income for hospital bills. The cost to fit a house with mosquito nets will be much less.
- Educate and hire unemployed youth to implement our program by installing netting throughout villages, hospitals, and clinics, as well as educating peers.
- Involve the village community and create a self-sustaining program that can exist without overseeing managers.
- Provide the supplies necessary to install netting such as nail, wood, saws and blades, hammers, even volunteers.
- Involve the Global fund and National Malaria Control Council of the Cameroon government. The MFZ project is not indented to stand alone, it is just one other strategy that can be added to the malaria-fighting options currently available.
