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Red
Cross Red Crescent and World Swim for Malaria join forces to combat
malaria in Africa 27 June 2006 The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies announced today a new partnership with the London-based charitable Foundation, World Swim for Malaria (WSM). Together they plan to provide life-saving long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN) to families in 17 communities in nine East and Southern Africa countries: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Botswana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda. “Each day, more than 3,000 children die of malaria. This is the equivalent of seven jumbo jets full of children crashing every day”, says Jean Roy, Senior Health officer at the International Federation. “Hence, rapid distribution of nets is critical to achieving mortality reductions in the targeted communities”, he adds. This new collaboration efficiently combines resources to achieve results at substantial savings. World Swim For Malaria is providing mosquito nets; the International Federation is supporting shipping costs; and the Red Cross societies are integrating the distribution in their established home-based care programmes for HIV/AIDS clients and families at no additional cost. To ensure that households hang and use nets correctly, Red Cross volunteers will continually check on the households to provide encouragement and education on the use of the nets. “This new partnership, which comes right after the distribution of two million mosquito nets in Niger with other partners, clearly shows that donors are relying more and more on the large networks of trained Red Cross Red Crescent volunteers to make sure that what they provide is properly distributed to local communities”, says Dr Bruce Eshaya-Chauvin, Head of the Health and Care Department at the International Federation. World Swim For Malaria, a simple grassroots initiative, took place between Dec 2005 and June 2006. A quarter of a million people in more than 150 countries swam, splashed, had fun and raised funds in what was the world’s largest ever participatory swim. All swam with one common cause: to have 100% of funds raised to buy mosquito nets, protect those most at risk and help reduce the death toll from malaria. A second World Swim For Malaria will take place in April 2008 with a target of 1 million people swimming on one day. This first collaborative distribution aims at distributing 28,000 bednets to protect 100,000 children and pregnant women. For further information, or to set up interviews, please contact: Jean-Luc Martinage, Media Officer Tel. + 41 79 217 33 86 Sian Bowen, Head, Media Service Tel. + 41 22 730 44 28 Media Service, duty phone (out of hours) Tel. + 41 79 416 38 81 World Swim For Malaria, Rob Mather, Founder, www.worldswimformalaria.com Tel. + 44 20 7371 8735 The Geneva-based International Federation promotes the humanitarian activities of 185 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies among vulnerable people. By coordinating international disaster relief and encouraging development support, it seeks to prevent and alleviate human suffering. The Federation, National Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross together, constitute the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. © International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies |
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