World Vision to run malaria control project

World Vision Malawi (WVM) will run a community-based malaria control project in the country over the next three years.

Up to 260,000 people who are most at risk of contracting malaria will benefit from the project, WVM Relief Manager Francis Battal said in a statement. This includes 200,000 children under the age of five years and 42,000 pregnant and lactating women.

According to the World Health Organisation, malaria is the number one killer of children in Africa and the "roll back malaria" campaign has identified women and children as the groups most vulnerable to the disease.

Battal said the project objective was to reduce malaria-related illness and deaths among children by 25 percent, and maternal deaths attributed to malaria by 30 percent, through more access to community-based malaria prevention and care in the area development programmes (ADP).

He said some of the strategies to be used in the project would be increasing access to insecticide-treated bed nets, enabling communities to make early diagnosis, and appropriate referral of malaria cases.

The US $1.7 million project is jointly funded by the United Nations Children's Fund, who will provide US $1,278,915, and World Vision International, who will make available $442,925. Work in the initial programme areas is expected to begin next week.

"As you can see, this is a big project and we are excited that it will impact so many people in the country." Battal said.