world community service reports
Malaria Partners International - Striving to elimnate Malaria Worldwide
by Clayton Taylor
With Polio "Nearly" eradicated, we now strive to tackle the next preventable worldwide killer.
Malaria is seen by many as the next worst, widespread disease that is impacting the world – after polio. Malaria is a mosquito borne blood disease. In simplest terms, it has the most severe impact on children 5-years old and younger, as millions of the youngest children have died. For adults, it has the impact of a very bad case of the flu, thus resulting in mothers who cannot care for their children and fathers who cannot go to work to pay for food for their families.
To address this head on, Malaria Partners International (MPI) was created by Rotarians to fight Malaria on a worldwide scale. Founded by Seattle Rotary Club 4, MPI now involves more than 40 other Rotary Clubs and significant partners in the international health field. MPI’s efforts first focused on the African country of Zambia and are now spreading to other African countries including The Gambia, Tanzania, and Uganda.
MPI on the Ground
The MPI approach to attacking malaria is unique, using lessons learned from polio eradication programs to trace and target hotspots of malaria outbreaks. The Zambia project has focused directly on the training and equipping of over 1,250 village health care workers who can test for and treat malaria at the local level, impacting over 625,000 local residents.
Another major aspect of the Zambia project is the effective partnership with the national government in the work. This government involvement provides the long-term sustainability that will make this effort endure through the years.
