Eradicate Malaria
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Malaria: a Disease from Last Century
Malaria is not a disease of today.
Efficient and cost effective ways of eradicating malaria have been known for almost a century now. Yet there are more than 500 million cases of malaria worldwide every single year. Sub-Saharan Africa is especially hard hit, and in some countries, combating malaria takes as much as 40% of the total health budget. Between 2 and 3 million children die yearly and morbidity from malaria is extremely high.
Just these plain facts ought to be a good enough reason for us to combat malaria. In addition, it is one of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG 6).
Global Responsibility
In GMin, we feel that we have a global responsibility to work with those with less fortunate backgrounds than ours. Sadly, some people are so impoverished that they usually do not have the means to break the cycle of poverty themselves and we are happy to work with them to do this. Malaria compounds poverty as seen in many sub-Saharan countries including Sierra Leone, and we are prepared to take it out of the poverty equation.
Beyond the high morbidity rates in Sierra Leone attributed to malaria, the victims are usually left out of school and work places for many weeks in a given year. In addition, the annual cost of malaria drugs- where available, makes up a huge part of a household budget. Money that the families could otherwise have spent on education or sanitation to improve their standard of life is rather spent on an illness that could be 100% prevented.
It's a vicious circle - one that can be broken by a strong relationship and respect between the "haves" and the "have-nots".
That is exactly where you and GMin come into the picture; our responsibility is to break that circle.
Light at the End of the Tunnel (or a Net on the Top of the Bed?)
To fight malaria, you don't need a PhD. Simply the will to make a difference and general knowledge is sufficient to make a major difference. You can easily and clearly see how much your little efforts are transformed into astronomical benefits for others.
What About the Other Problems?
Our focus on malaria does not imply that GMin is not in favor of other projects. In fact, all development and health projects must support each other to accomplish greater success.
For instance, is the probability of getting AIDS higher if your immune system is weakened from malaria? Probably. Could maternal and child mortality interventions include prevention against malaria? Certainly.
Someone has to do something and start somewhere. We are joining millions of other groups from the malaria intervention end as we slowly move towards an improved health for all.
Most Bang for a Buck!
With a unit price of an LLIN being at 10 USD (one net is often shared by 2 people) and given that each lasts for about 5 years, the annual price for protecting a person from Malaria is as low as 1 USD. This means that the payback rate for intervening in malaria is very very big.
If you, like us, feel this is a worthwhile way of spending your money and time, do not hesitate to go to our "Donate" page to buy that net you always wanted to donate. You will be making a difference and supporting the eradication of malaria in Sierra Leone.