Anti-Malaria Efforts Yield New Success

Anti-malaria efforts yield new success
Research finds unprecedented drop in deaths in two hard-hit countries

Widespread use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets and state-of-the-art drugs has succeeded in cutting malaria deaths in half in two countries most heavily affected by the disease, the World Health Organization is reporting today.

The findings from Rwanda and Ethiopia are the first to show a greater than 50 percent reduction in malaria mortality nationwide in "high burden" countries.

This is so encouraging for those working on this problem in our world. Malaria is a preventable disease that millions die from and the efforts to educate people on the disease and how to prevent it and the efforts to distribute the much needed mosquito nets and malaria medicines and starting to pay off; all of the hard work put into these social injustices is beginning to show. That has to bring joy to people's faces who have dedicated their lives for this cause.

Keep it up I say, and tell your friends about what needs to be done and what they can do from where they are to help in this crisis.

The Middle Piece, a guest blog by Dr. Agnes Binagwaho

...just read my (RED) blog on Google Reader...thought I'd share...this shows first hand the impact that is being made right now in Africa by the (RED) campeign and those who are involved in it...it is a wonderful business model...buy (RED)!!!

The Middle Piece, a guest blog by Dr. Agnes Binagwaho
from (BLOG) RED by (RED)

To mark World AIDS Day 2007, I visited with (RED) shareholders in Rwanda. Among the clients, caregivers and officials with whom I met, was Dr. Agnes Binagwaho, Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight Against HIV/AIDS. Dr. Agnes epitomizes the amazing accomplishments of the country in strategy and spirit. She made several compelling points about the importance and impact of Rwanda's efforts to bring all stakeholders into the decison-making process around disease eradication and beyond. In doing so, she described (RED) as the "middle piece" to Rwanda's economic development. I asked her to describe in her own words what she meant. Below is her explanation. --Tamsin

With the first funds to finance the fight against AIDS, we reinforced our health system, improved access to care for communities and established a solid platform with strong leadership and a clear vision. However, two years ago we weren't sure that additional funds to support the HIV/AIDS work would be available to sustain our achievements. We were nervous that many of what we had built might crumble if the money dried up. This negative energy was dispiriting.

But then (RED) came. It was the "middle piece" upon which we could place the next floor of upward progress. (RED) monies ensured the sustainability of Rwanda's efforts. (RED) brought the positive energy back, allowing creativity and innovation to flow again.

Tackling HIV and AIDS is just a piece of the economic development puzzle. Fighting this disease – and defeating it – builds our capacity to address all the Millenium Development Goals. It makes us open-minded and open-hearted. In Africa, we need to share our experience and help each other.

(RED) gives Rwanda the peace of mind to do much more for our population and our neighbors in other countries, many of whom visit us to learn and collaborate to make our futures brighter.

Dr. Agnes Binagwaho is currently Rwanda's Executive Secretary of the National Commission for the Fight Against HIV/AIDS. She is also a member of the expert panel of the Country Coordinating Mechanism in Rwanda for the Global Fund and the chair of the PEPFAR Steering Committee in Rwanda. She is member of several boards and foundations combating AIDS and infant mortality. Dr Binagwaho has also co-coordinated the Task Force of the Millennium Development Goal Project for HIV/AIDS on access to essential medicines.

Updated AIDS Statistics

I read this post from the (RED) blog this morning on my Google Reader. It is refreshing.

UNAIDS updated its statistics on Worldwide AIDS for 2007, and the numbers are quite encouraging. There has been a 16% decrease in the number of AIDS victims worldwide from last year to this year.

. 68 % of the global total of people living with HIV are in sub-Saharan Africa
. 4,383 is the average number of deaths daily due to AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa
. There are an estimated 11.4 million orphans due to AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa
. Adult HIV prevalence rate in Swaziland is 26% vs 33% in 2006.

These numbers are encouraging. Keep it up, make that number larger in next years statistics. It can be done, AIDS victims, every single one of them, can receive the treatment and care they need. The children orphaned by this terrible tragedy can be saved, can be helped. I want to help.

World AIDS Day is December 1st...it's also payday, go spoil yourself and buy soemthing (red) that day. Help out someone who can't really help themselves. Start a conversation with a co-worker, bring up AIDS awareness. Be aware for yourself. Know what people around the world are facing, are living through, are dying of.

Melinda gets it.

I came upon a CNN Blog called Young People Who Rock...and this is the latest post...

Using her new found stardom to impact the Kingdom is the most noble thing anyone can do with something that can be so self-focused and self-centering. Melinda Doolittle gets it. She gets that she can impact the world. She was put in a place, with her rise on American Idol, that she knew she could use as a platform. She traveled to the Malaria-belt of Africa with First Lady Laura Bush supporting Malaria No More, to raise awareness of the disease. She believes, as do I, and many others, that Malaria can be eradicated, wiped off the face of the earth, completely prevented, that people dying of Malaria is a tragedy because it can be prevented -- with medicines to treat it and insecticides and nets to prevent it in the first place. People of Africa just need to be aware of it and have the oppertunity and knowledge to seek the help they need to live, because there is life after Malaria, and it can be prevented. Doolittle's goal is to see malaria eliminated in her lifetime, and I think that is possible. Melinda does rock. God bless Melinda and the many people like her. They are the ones who are going to shape our generation, they will leave the legacies for us, they are the ones we will tell our children about. They are bringing the good to this world, the way Jesus intended it. Melinda rocks. Melinda gets it.

If we all just got it, if we all just did our little part to bring the Kingdom...O what a wonderful world that would be.

Expieremental shot Helps Save Infants Lives from Malaria

Just read another article....

Malaria kills 1 person every 30 seconds. That is too many.

Many organizations have the simple idea to give the African people mosquito nets and educate them on the dangers of mosquito bites and of malaria. This is a great effort, although it can only go so far. The people cannot live their entire lives under a net, and mosquitoes are hungary more often than only at night, while people sleep.

So doctors have discovered a vaccine. A shot to give to everyone at birth, to prevent the disease, with the goal of finding an end to killer, malaria.

In a clinical trial of 214 Mozambique infants, 10-18 weeks old, the GlaxoSmithKine Plc’s shot proved safe and effective in fighting malaria. Of those treated, clinical illnesses were cut by 35 percent. Frankly, that is better than none. Incentive enough for me to support a more common vaccine.

This vaccine has the potential to save millions of lives. That's big.

The vaccine is in it's final testing stages and should be usable for the worldwide public in 5 yerars.


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Countries in sub-Saharan Africa are making significant progress in fighting malaria, new statistics from Unicef and the World Health Organisation show.

That is encouraging. Malaria, is preventable and yet, still, too many people die from it too often.
The article said that i nthe countries monitered, that the malaria death rate has dropped by half...we should pass out more nets!