The WHO estimates that nearly half of the world’s population is affected by malaria. In 2010, WHO reported an estimated 216 million malaria cases and 655,000 malaria-related deaths, most of which were concentrated among African children.
PSI is at the forefront of the global malaria control effort, supporting national ministries of health to implement malaria control programs in 32 countries around the world. This support allows ministries of health to scale up proven, interventions and sustain coverage over time. These interventions include: delivery of long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs), artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), strategic behavior change communications and applied operational research. As the international community nears the Millennium Development Goals, PSI stands ready to further scale up and sustain these malaria control efforts in partnership with ministries of health in endemic countries.
In 2011 alone, PSI delivered 43 million nets, representing roughly half of all nets delivered in Africa last year. Over the effective life of this intervention, PSI is able to prevent nearly 55.3 million malaria episodes and prevent more than 414,000 malaria-related deaths.
An integrated approach to reducing child mortality
Although malaria is among the biggest killers of children under five, pneumonia and diarrhea also carry a high burden. Addressing these health issues together will lead to a huge health impact.
The WHO defines integration as “the organization and management of health services so that people get the care they need, when they need it, in ways that are user-friendly, achieve the desired results and provide value.”
PSI’s integrated case management programs reduce death and severe disease due to malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea, and severe acute malnutrition, with prompt and effective diagnosis and treatment where and when people need it.
Click here to read more about PSI’s integrated case management programs.
Helping families sleep better and stay healthy
My name is Geneviève Ndagijimana, and I am 34 years old. I live in Burundi, with my husband, our six children. For many years, I suffered from countless cases of malaria, and I lost two children to the illness. That was a horrible period in my life. I used to stay up all night chasing away mosquitoes. But it seemed like whatever I did, my children and I would get sick.
When I was pregnant with my fifth child, I was sure I would lose this baby too. So I went to a nearby health center to see if they could help. That’s where I met Mrs. Therese Kaburungu, the health center manager. She gave me a mosquito net and told me to take it home and use it. The PSI staff who had given the nets to the health center had said that they were offered by USAID for women just like me.
That net changed our lives.
For the first time in years, I slept through the night. When my children and I woke up, none of us had any bites, and since we started using the mosquito net we’ve have been healthy. I have lost family, and I have suffered a lot. But now, my family and I are sleeping safe and sound, and I want others to sleep safely too.
