Newsroom

Malaria Communities Program Grant Recipients

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2007

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In June 2005, President Bush launched the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) and pledged to increase U.S. malaria funding by more than $1.2 billion over five years to reduce deaths due to malaria by 50 percent in 15 African countries. PMI is a collaborative U.S. Government effort led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As part of PMI, the Malaria Communities Program (MCP) will help extend the coverage of malaria prevention and control activities in communities most affected by malaria, with specific attention on children under age five and women who are pregnant. MCP focuses on enabling communities and indigenous organizations that are new to partnering with the U.S. Government in their efforts to combat malaria in Africa. The first five MCP grant recipients and information on their proposed program activities are listed below:

Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC)

CRWRC, in partnership with Nkhoma Relief and Development, will complete a five-year, $1.5 million malaria program in the Central Region of Malawi. The program will directly reach more than 50,400 women who are pregnant or other adults who have children under five in their households, educating them on the importance of household ownership and proper use of insecticide treated nets (ITNs); the need for pregnant women to receive two or more doses of sulfadoxine-pyrimthamine (SP) during pregnancy to prevent malaria, anemia, and low birth weight; and the need for all children under five with suspected malaria to receive treatment with an anti-malarial drug within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms.

"This award will allow CRWRC to take its expertise in community organizing and rapidly scale up an effective response to malaria, the number one killer in Africa," said Will Story, CRWRC's Technical Advisor for Child Survival and Health. "Our focus on behavior change is an important contribution to this multi-partner effort in Malawi, because insecticide treated nets and antimalarial drugs are only effective if people can access them and are willing to use them."

Lutheran World Relief (LWR)

With a three-year grant totaling nearly $900,000, LWR and its partner, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT), will deliver malaria prevention and treatment to an estimated 1.6 million individuals in Tanzania. Through community mobilization, healthcare empowerment, and institutional capacity building, LWR and ELCT will provide assistance by promoting the use of Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Pregnancy as part of routine antenatal care; providing early and correct diagnosis and treatment with Atremisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT); linking malaria control to ELCT's existing HIV/AIDS projects; and improving communication linkages to increase the availability of essential drugs and supplies while promoting the rational use of ITNs, SP, and ACTs.

"We are thrilled and humbled to receive this grant for malaria work in Tanzania through the President's Malaria Initiative and USAID," said John Nunes, president of Lutheran World Relief. "We look forward to working on this project with 1.6 million people in Tanzania, and anticipate that this is just the beginning of a long-term commitment on our part to address malaria throughout the world."

Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD)

Through a five-year $1.5 million grant, ERD and its partner, the Anglican Church of Angola, will implement a malaria program in Angola, covering an area with a total population of more than 90,000, including more than 18,000 children under five, more than 11,000 pregnant women, and an additional 3,400 plus people living with HIV and AIDS. The program will increase the use of Long Life Insecticide Impregnated Nets by pregnant women and children under five (working jointly with ERD's NetsforLife project); ensure that malaria symptoms are recognized in the household and that prompt and effective treatment is sought and received; and ensure that pregnant women receive Intermittent Presumptive Therapy (IPT).

"Episcopal Relief and Development is honored to receive this generous grant through the President's Malaria Initiative supporting our malaria prevention program in Angola," said Robert W. Radtke, President of Episcopal Relief and Development. "This program is part of our NetsforLifeSM initiative, a grassroots partnership in 16 sub-Saharan African countries that mobilizes communities to combat malaria through education, training, as well as the proper and consistent use of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets. Partnering with the Anglican Church of Angola, we are working with local community members to teach people effective ways to prevent the spread of the disease so they become empowered to protect themselves and their families. Empowerment saves lives."

Minnesota International Health Volunteers (MIHV)

Through a three-year, nearly $1.5 million grant, MIHV will implement the Uganda Malaria Communities Partnership project in two regions in Uganda. MIHV will be the lead agency, partnering with the Malaria Consortium, Malaria and Childhood Illness NGO Secretariat and local community-based organizations. The total number of primary beneficiaries, including children under five and pregnant women, is estimated to be 540,000. The project will focus on providing community education to increase the proportion of pregnant women receiving IPT; improving the proportion of children under five receiving prompt, effective malaria treatment; improving demand, uptake and utilization of effective malaria prevention and treatment services in the community; and improving public-private coordination by training private health care providers.

"The health status of young children and mothers in northern Uganda is extremely poor," said Diana DuBois, Executive Director of Minnesota International Health Volunteers. "We look forward to working with local partners in order to improve malaria health outcomes."

Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC)

Over a five-year, $1.5 million grant, the CSSC will address malaria in women who are pregnant in four districts and 100 health facilities in the Southern Zone of the United Republic of Tanzania, reaching an estimated 75 percent of the total population of nearly 1.4 million people. The program will include Focused Antenatal Care training of health workers in facilities, community health workers and community religious leaders.