It's World Malaria Day on 25th April, and I was asked to show support by displaying a button on this blog, linking through to the campaign. (You'll see it on the right, next to this post.)
Even though I haven't blogged here for some considerable time, I'm happy to oblige if it helps to raise awareness even in a very small way.
Half of the world's population are at risk of malaria and, according to the World Malaria Report, published by the World Health Organisation, there were 243 million cases during 2008, resulting in 863,000 deaths.
According to the charity Malaria No More, more than a million people die of malaria every year. Most are young children under five years old. In Africa, the disease currently kills one child every 30 seconds.
But virtually all of these deaths are avoidable.
In countries such as Ethiopia and Rwanda, where mosquito nets, medicine and insecticides have been distributed, deaths from malaria have already been reduced by over 50%.
So, what can you do?
- Pledge your support: 'Count yourself in to Count Malaria Out and join the global community in working to ensure that every man, woman and child in malaria-affected regions has access to essential prevention and treatment services by 2010.'
- Make a donation to a charity that works to save lives from malaria? Malaria No More, as the name implies, focuses on putting an end to the suffering and death caused by malaria.
- Help to raise awareness by displaying the button on your blog and/ or website, by joining the Facebook page and sharing it on your profile, and following World Malaria Day 2010 on Twitter and retweeting to your followers.
