Spread the Net to Prevent Malaria

Canadians are frequently travelling further and longer to places that a generation ago would have been fairly exotic but are now routine. Consequently more people are knowledgeable about tropical diseases especially malaria and dutifully taking their medications, avoiding mosquitoes and using mosquitoes nets (or at least they tell us doctors they do).

From the Italian mal'aria – "bad air", Malaria is a long-lasting blood disease that is often fatal. In Africa, Malaria is the largest single cause of death among children under the age of five – killing one child every 30 seconds, more than 750,000 per year. Without concerted actions, the death rate is expected to double in the next 20 years.

Transmitted by the female, night-biting Anopheles mosquito , Malaria is caused by the single-celled Plasmodium parasite. Once in the bloodstream, the parasite matures and multiplies and can destroy thousands of red blood cells in a few hours. Children, with their small bodies and immature immune systems, are particularly vulnerable to severe illness and death.

Spread the Net was born when Belinda Stronach and Rick Mercer traveled to Africa in 2006 with Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of the UN Millennium Project and The Earth Institute at Columbia University. It was there that they saw first hand the devastating effects of Malaria, and the shockingly simple bed net solution so out-of-reach for many thousands of African families.

From that moment on, Belinda Stronach and Rick Mercer stepped up to the plate and, as national Spread the Net co-chairs, spearheaded this amazing cause in partnership with UNICEF Canada.

They are proposing that Canadians buy a bednet to protect pregnant mothers and young children. 10 Bucks, Save Lives. The use of these nets has been shown to reduce mortality in children under the age of five from all causes by up to 25 per cent. One bed net can protect an African child for up to five years. Thousands of lives could be saved every year if all children under the age of five in Africa slept under bed nets.

Beds treated with permethrin besides being safe are far more effective than regular mosquito nets in that insects –mosquitoes, ticks and sandflies – are not only being blocked but are actually stunned or killed by the powerful insecticide making it the device of choice for preventing bites at night.

Still these bednets are not just given away. UNICEF has a long history of thoughtful international development and is distributing them with education and instruction on their correct use as part of their community knowledge building initiatives.

UNICEF is showing how a practice that is in common use for travellers can be successfully used for whole populations at risk. Reducing the malaria load also is one step towards reasonable control and hopefully elimination of malaria in countries devastated by malaria. This will hopefully lead to situations where no one, whether local or traveller, has to worry about taking anti-malarials when visiting.