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Making Malaria History
Islamic Relief Participates in President's Malaria Initiative at White House

"In malaria-prone regions, people look first to their churches, mosques or synagogues for help."

These were the words of First Lady Laura Bush on February 15, 2007 at the White House conference on Malaria. Islamic Relief was privileged to be an invited participant at the Compassion in Action Roundtable, receiving updates on the President's Malaria Initiative launched in June 2005.

As the White House finds itself entering the third and final phase of work, they will be expanding their reach into the last eight of 15 countries they have targeted in Africa to combat the preventable and treatable disease of malaria, with the help of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), faith-based and community groups, and the private sector. As a group, the collective goal is to prevent and treat malaria in 12.5 million people in Africa by training local health care workers. Unlike many other NGOs, Islamic Relief has the advantage of having a preexisting relationship with many of the African communities - thus gaining local credibility and trust - and the ability to mobilize volunteers on the ground.

The Gallup World Poll, also attending the event, found that among eight social and political institutions, Sub-Saharan Africans have the most confidence in religious organizations, exceeding even their faith in their own healthcare systems. It also confirmed that, with the exception of a small handful of countries, communities are more worried about malaria in their midst than HIV/AIDS. However, despite this concern, only 10-59 percent of households, depending on the country, have access to life-protecting bed net or have been educated on its necessity in saving lives.

In addition to protecting people from contracting preventable diseases like malaria, the most important development goal for people in Africa - after reducing poverty and hunger - was to create more jobs. Islamic Relief 's program to help local communities procure nets is tackling the two critical and linked issues of creating employment and increasing access to nets. Islamic Relief staff in Washington, DC will be following up with Ambassador Randall Tobias of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to discuss further collaborations.

More and more, organizations around the world are beginning to realize how devastating an epidemic malaria is: malaria kills more than a million people per year; 90 percent of those who die are in Africa; and nearly a half-billion people a year are afflicted by the disease. In collaboration with the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, Islamic Relief is working towards fighting this disease. As little as $10 can save a life by providing a bed net and malaria treatment for one person in Africa.

People of faith have always reached out to their neighbors in need. They've fed the hungry, cared for the neglected and healed the sick. They do these things not for their own benefit, but guided by the belief that every human life has value and dignity. By working together, and coordinating with the President's Malaria Initiative and other initiatives, people of faith can now help save millions of lives from malaria.
- First Lady Laura Bush

For more information on Islamic Relief 's projects on malaria, please log onto
www.irw.org/malaria.

From Partnership, the official newsletter of Islamic Relief, Spring 2007