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Joining the Global Effort to Prevent, Detect, and Treat Malaria #WorldMalariaDay

This April 25, on World Malaria Day, we recognize the tremendous efforts of the global community to prevent, detect, and treat malaria — nearly 100 million malaria cases have been prevented and close to 600,000 lives are saved each year. But there is still work to be done. Since 2014, the number of malaria-related deaths has remained largely the same and, as a result, we are at risk of not achieving the Sustainable Development Goal for ending malaria by 2030. We urge governments, donors, and the private sector to continue global investments in malaria even in the face of other health priorities such as COVID-19.

Take a look at how some of our projects around the world are working toward ending malaria for good, from procuring and delivering insecticide-treated bed nets and antimalarial medication to prevent the spread of malaria and supplying testing kits to aid in detection, to strengthening governments’ ability to effectively treat their populations.

Prevent

The USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project, implemented by Chemonics, supports 30 countries around the world with procuring and delivering critical malaria commodities. To date, the project has procured nearly 145 million long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs). Pictured here, a camel caravan embarks on a 90-kilometer journey at the Awash River mouth in Afambo District, near the Ethiopia-Djibouti border. Photo Credit: Mikiyas Tesfaye

Mohammed, a loader, helps move malaria nets to a storage facility in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Photo Credit: Anthony Abu

Community members in Afambo District of Afar State, eastern Ethiopia, attend a demonstration session organized by health extension workers on the proper use of mosquito nets in households. GHSC-PSM, together with the Afar regional state, effectively planned and coordinated the distribution of 523,000 nets in the region last year. Photo Credit: Mikiyas Tesfaye

A father sits under a bed net with his children in Ghana. According to the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), national malaria prevalence in Ghana among children under five years of age decreased from 27.5 to 20.6 percent between 2011 and 2016. Photo Credit: Ken Twist

Photo credit: GHSC-PSM

While Cambodia has made great progress in controlling malaria over the last decade, many of the forests and protected areas of the country have been difficult to reach. Children in Oddar Meanchey, a remote province in northwest Cambodia, proudly display their bed nets. Photo Credit: Chris Norman

In March 2019, Mozambique and other parts of southern Africa were devastated by Cyclone Idai. The Mozambican Ministry of Health, Central Medical Store, and GHSC-PSM worked together to restore the local public health supply chain to ensure no interruption of treatment for patients. Photo Credit: Mickael Breard

Over a period of just two weeks in 2019, GHSC-PSM worked with the Ministry of Health in Ghana to deliver nearly 1.5 million bed nets through a mass distribution campaign to over 200,000 schools — helping to protect more than 3 million children like Portia, pictured here, and their families from malaria. Photo Credit: Ken Twist

Detect

A volunteer malaria worker tests a patient in Battambang Province, Cambodia. Photo Credit: Chris Norman

The USAID Human Resources for Health in 2030 (HRH2030) program's Capacity Building for Malaria activity works with PMI to strengthen the institutional and managerial capacities of National Malaria Control Programs in 10 countries. In 2018, HRH2030 developed coaching plans to improve malaria testing in private pharmacies in five major cities across Sierra Leone. Photo credit: HRH2030/Ollivier Girard (right) and HRH2030/Mohamed Marcel Tucker, ZOOM Media Inc. (below)

Treat

A pharmacist in Uganda stocks Malaren, an alternative treatment for malaria for patients susceptible to chloroquine resistance, a commonly used antimalarial. Photo Credit: GHSC-PSM

A patient receives her prescription from a pharmacist at the Tanjung Priok Health Center in Jakarta. Photo Credit: Andi Gultom

In 2018, there were 350 malaria cases for every 1,000 people in Rwanda. Through the GHSC-PSM project, PMI plays a critical role in supporting the government of Rwanda in procuring critical supplies to fight malaria, such as testing kits, antimalarial medication, and bed nets. Diagnosis and treatment commodities travel along the in-country supply chain from the central level to district pharmacies, and eventually to hospitals and health centers where patients can access them. Photo Credit: GHSC-PSM/Jordan Snowzell

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