Seattle, January 16, 2020—Malaria No More is proud to join partners around the world in celebrating the impact of global efforts to develop and deliver 2 billion insecticide-treated mosquito nets since 2004 to hundreds of millions of families at risk of malaria. The simple and effective intervention is responsible for 68% of the malaria cases prevented in Africa since 2000, and contributed to global efforts that saved more than 7.5 million people and prevented more than 1.4 billion malaria cases since 2000.
“The rapid scale-up of insecticide-treated mosquito nets – particularly in Africa – has turned the tide against malaria, putting the world on the path to ending this ancient disease within our lifetimes,” said Martin Edlund, CEO of Malaria No More. “In the process, the insecticide-treated net has proven itself an essential life-saving tool for a generation of Africans, and has become a symbol of effective foreign assistance.”
Since its founding in 2006 at the White House Malaria Summit, Malaria No More has championed the global fight against malaria by mobilizing the political commitments, innovations and funding needed to end malaria, a preventable disease that kills a child every 2 minutes. As a leading advocate for increasing and sustaining global commitment to ensure no one dies from a mosquito bite, Malaria No More reinforces the value of U.S. investments in the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and U.S. research institutions, for the scale up and distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets. Over the years, Malaria No More’s advocacy contributed to global resource mobilization efforts that grew funding to fight malaria by approximately 1000% between 2000-2015, fueling the purchase and global distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets.
Tapping Malaria No More's network
Through Malaria No More’s work with partners, the insecticide-treated mosquito net has come to symbolize this generation’s opportunity to end malaria forever. Partnering with American Idol Gives Back in 2007, Malaria No More helped to educate more than 60 million Americans about malaria and raised tens of millions of dollars in funds, including for insecticide-treated mosquito nets. In 2008, Malaria No More also supported U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s unprecedented call to protect all people at risk of malaria with insecticide-treated mosquito nets, which helped to dramatically expand access to this life-saving tool since 2009.
In 2010, Ashton Kutcher announced that he would donate 10,000 insecticide-treated nets to Malaria No More if the public helped him become the first Twitter user to reach 1 million followers on the platform (ahead of CNN). Kutcher was joined in the social media challenge by celebrities including Anderson Cooper, Oprah Winfrey, Sean Combs and Ryan Seacrest to ultimately deliver nearly 90,000 insecticide-treated nets to Senegal via Malaria No More.
Through innovative public awareness campaigns with African Presidents, leading mobile telecom operators, and top stars of African music and sport, Malaria No More helped to reach tens of millions of Africans with information and reminders to protect themselves through nightly use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets. Today, Malaria No More is supporting India’s goal to be malaria-free by 2030, including with advocacy and education efforts to ensure adequate funding for the distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets in India’s highest malaria burden states.
The insecticide-treated mosquito net changed the fight against malaria
In 2000, nearly half the world went to bed each night at risk of getting a deadly mosquito bite. Since then, global efforts to scale up and distribute insecticide-treated mosquito nets helped save and protect millions from malaria. In 2004, just 5.5 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets were delivered and distributed in malaria endemic countries around the world. In 2018, the number of insecticide-treated nets distributed globally was almost 200 million. Between 2010 and 2018, the number of pregnant women and children under five in sub-Saharan Africa who slept under an insecticide-treated mosquito net more than doubled – up from 26% to 61%, according to the World Health Organization, thanks to increased funding and global and national partners working together to purchase, distribute and increase the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets by millions of families at risk for malaria.
However, almost 40% of pregnant women and children under 5 in sub-Saharan Africa still sleep without nets. Growing insecticide resistance requires development, testing and scale up of new types of insecticide-treated mosquito nets in targeted areas.
Continued US leadership critical to ending malaria
The United States has been crucial to supporting the global fight against malaria, especially through significant investments in The Global Fund and PMI. These programs are the biggest drivers of the progress working together with malaria-endemic countries and partners to distribute more than 1.5 billion insecticide-treated mosquito nets since 2004.
“Lifesaving insecticide-treated mosquito nets represent one of the most effective, efficient U.S. investments to save and improve people’s lives, particularly pregnant women and children in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Josh Blumenfeld, Managing Director, Global Policy and Advocacy at Malaria No More. “With growing insecticide resistance, U.S. support to the Global Fund and PMI must continue as they work with malaria-affected countries to distribute insecticide-treated mosquito nets with new types of insecticides to places high in resistance based on improved uses of data, monitoring and real-time reporting by malaria-affected countries and partners.”
Last month, Congress increased funding for PMI by $15 million to $770 million for FY20, specifically to purchase new mosquito nets treated with next generation insecticides and other active ingredients and target their distribution in areas of high resistance of sub-Saharan Africa. Congress also approved $1.56 billion for the Global Fund, a 15.6 percent increase above the FY19 enacted level, and will include funding allocations to buy and distribute more insecticide-treated mosquito nets.
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For more information or interview requests, contact Wynne Boelt at +1 206 661 2798 or Wynne.Boelt@malarianomore.org.
About Malaria No More
Malaria No More envisions a world where no one dies from a mosquito bite. More than a decade into our mission, our work has contributed to historic progress toward this goal. Now, we’re mobilizing the political commitment, funding, and innovation required to achieve what would be one of the greatest humanitarian accomplishments – ending malaria within our generation. For more information, visit www.malarianomore.org.
