Protecting U.S. Malaria Funding is theme of Petition launched by Allegheny College Students 

Four students from Allegheny College, inspired by a recent visit to Capitol Hill in Washington D.C., are standing up in the global fight against malaria and other diseases of poverty.  They are asking others to join them by posting a petition online. Click here to participate!

“Nowadays, it seems like the fastest and most effective way to reach hundreds of people is through a virtual petition,” Amanda Geary, a student at Allengheny College, said.  “Not only can you ask them to support this cause but it also helps them learn a little bit more about a disease that has killed silently for so long.”

The students represented Allegheny College, which is located in Meadville, Pa at the event held during the first week of October. Amanda Geary, Kaela Poulin, Ben Dempe and Caitlin Hubel all attended “Imagine No Malaria Advocacy Days on the Hill,” a gathering of 59 people from 10 states around the United States who met at the offices of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society in Washington D.C.  A component of The UMC’s Imagine No Malaria campaign, most of the participants represented local United Methodist churches, however Allegheny College sent a team to represent the college-age constituents.

After an extensive training on how to effectively advocate members of Congress, the group made personal visits to their respective elected officials with a simple message: “Please protect U.S. budget funds for malaria and global health programs.”

The U.S. Government has been a major supporter in the fight against deadly illnesses as well. In fact, according to Admiral Timothy Ziemer, Director of the President’s Malaria Initiative, “the U.S. Government is the largest donor worldwide in the malaria fight.”

Asked about the effect of  the proposed 9% global health budget cut, Ziemer continued, “These cuts would have a profoundly negative impact. We would risk rolling back the progress we have made.”

The Rev. Gary Henderson, executive director of the United Methodist Global Health Initiative, echoed that sentiment.  “Cuts now will mean fewer nets, less money for prevention and a decrease in the availability of life-saving treatments,” he said. “We have to let our senators and representatives know this issue is important to us.”

On average, every forty-five seconds a child dies from malaria even though it is a completely preventable and treatable disease.  The problem is that many impoverished areas of the world simply do not have the resources to combat it.  The United Methodist Church in 2007 committed to making Global Health one of its four main areas of focus. It is now working to raise $75 million for this cause though the Imagine No Malaria campaign.

Rachel Giesel, a first-year student at Allegheny College explained the first step is to get the word out, informing people about how malaria works and its impact on the lives of people in vulnerable areas.

“What makes malaria so deadly is that it moves quickly and silently. I was unaware of the immense number of people that are affected by this disease,” Giesel said. “Most of the people dying are children under age five. I can’t believe that the American government would want to scale back its efforts now, when we have come so far. ”

Just last year, the World Health Organization revised the global malaria mortality rate, reducing the total estimated deaths from more than 1 million to 800,000, annually. Since its launch in 2010, the Imagine No Malaria campaign has raised more than $18 million to provide resource to Africa for prevention, education treatment and infrastructure through the continent.

Many students at Allegheny have already signed the petition. Now they are circulating it through Facebook and other online media.

“I just think that right now, politics are becoming more global than ever,” fellow Allegheny student Victoria Durst, said. “We should be using the funds that we have to help those who don’t have the means to help themselves, especially when it’s so clear that these efforts are having a profound impact. It would be irresponsible on our part to cut back our efforts.  We have made it our responsibility to help these children.”

For more information on Imagine No Malaria advocate, visit ImagineNoMalaria.org.

To get involved now by signing the Federal budget petition to protect malaria funding, visit our online petition.

by Rev. Larry Hollon
General Secretary, United Methodist Communications 

In the last three years, thanks to global donations, it’s been possible distribute 300 million bed nets in sub-Saharan Africa. That’s enough to cover three quarters of the continent. More than a million lives have been saved. At least 11 countries where malaria is a high burden have seen their caseloads and related deaths fall by half. Funding for malaria has increased tenfold in 10 years. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has provided $6 billion in the last decade.

These gains are cause for optimism. They have come because nations and people around the world have been generous, public policy advocacy has been persistent and on-the-ground implementation of sound community-health practices has worked. It now appears that the vision of a malaria-free world could be achieved.

This is the good news.

The bad news is that these gains are fragile, and continued progress is not assured. Even with the substantial gains in funding, a significant gap exists between the current level and future needs. Melinda Gates told participants in the Gates Foundation Forum on Malaria funding will need to double in the next 10 years. Examples exist of countries that  nearly eliminated the disease only to fall back and experience increases mostly because they did not continue surveillance and stopped short of achieving universal coverage of all of their citizens. Single-dose malaria treatment (now banned in most countries) has proven extremely harmful in Southeast Asia. A single dose of a malaria drug may relieve symptoms but also result in drug immunity, rendering the drug ineffective in new cases. The parasite is highly adaptable and capable of changing to resist drugs and insecticides. A new parasite strain has been identified and is uncontrolled in a small region of Cambodia, for example, causing researchers to look for new combinations of drugs to treat it and new ways to contain it.

Adriana MoisŽs sits with her son, Verissimo Jo‹o Quintas, who is being examined for symptoms of malaria by Dr. Malaquias Kapawba, at the Benifica Alta health center in Huambo, Angola. An effective malaria vaccination would dramatically change the landscape of malaria treatment. Photo by Mike DuBose, United Methodist News Service.

Thus, as the theme of Gates Foundation Forum suggested, it’s a time for optimism and urgency. The goal of a malaria-free world looks more achievable than anyone would have expected a decade ago. But the action plan to success will require continuing commitment, attention and funding. Malaria experts say long-lasting, insecticide-treated nets are necessary as a first-line defense. Residual indoor spraying must expand beyond urban areas to rural districts, especially remote places. Prevention in pregnancy must be stepped up; rapid diagnosis of cases and treatment must increase. Systems for monitoring and reporting must be more effective. Community-based health workers must be trained. New drugs must be produced and distributed. And research on the biology of the parasite and host mosquito must continue.

Perhaps the most difficult challenge isn’t within the skills of public health, medical or research professionals; it’s in the hands of development professionals, government and community leaders. Malaria is a disease of poverty. Those living in poverty get this disease. If we are to conquer the diseases of poverty, we must help people overcome poverty. To do less is to prolong the fight.

To ensure that the investments that have been made are not lost, we must not allow the gains to cloud our vision so we don’t see the realistic challenge that remains. Some experts contend it will take 40 years to eradicate malaria. As we celebrate remarkable gains, it is a time for optimism. But it’s not the time to slow down, pull back or rest on accomplishments. It’s a time urgently to commit to ending this killer.

A UMNS Report
By Phileas Jusu

John Blackie, 15, lies ill with malaria at United Methodist Mercy Hospital in Kulando, Sierra Leone, in July. UMNS web-only photos by Phileas Jusu.

The malaria infection rate once more is slowing in southern Sierra Leone as the rainy season nears an end, report health workers in the Bo District.

That is an expected pattern, says the director of the Malaria Initiative for the United Methodist Committee on Relief. Shannon M. Trilli notes that malaria cases go up in rainy seasons and down in dry seasons.

However, she explained that the denomination’s Imagine No Malaria campaign aims to minimize transmissions of the disease, especially during rainy seasons, and to help people know when they contract malaria so they will choose to get medical help.

The United Methodist Church contributed more than 600,000 bed nets — 320,000 in the Bo District — in a project with the Sierra Leone government and other international organizations to provide more than 3 million insecticide-treated bed nets. The campaign also administers polio vaccinations, Vitamin A tablets and deworming medicine to children younger than 5.

Read full story at umc.org

As a denomination-wide, inter-agency effort, Imagine No Malaria will be the featured mission on Day 1 of the upcoming 10-Fold event, an interactive global gathering hosted by the General Board of Global Ministries, the mission agency of The United Methodist Church.

The day’s program will include Imagine No Malaria video content as well as a live panel discussion, which will be broadcast live online.

For every person who clicks through and shares their email address, $1 will be donated to Imagine No Malaria, so please Be Counted today!

If you are interested in learning more or participating, visit 10-Fold.org and sign up for email updates with specific program information and webcast times.

10-Fold is an annual event that features webcasts and online content to communicate the great work being done to serve the poor throughout the world. It highlights 10 United Methodist global mission programs for 10 consecutive days, and begins October 10, 2011.

10-Fold and Imagine No Malaria represent our faith in action, living out the commitment of The United Methodist Church to congregational development, leadership development, global health, and ministry with the poor.

Links:

General Board of Global Ministries website

10-Fold official website

WASHINGTON D.C. – How do you treat malaria on Capitol Hill? Apply pressure.

More than 50 Imagine No Malaria advocates were in the U.S. capital this week to ask members of Congress to help them save lives.

The event, hosted by the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, is part of the denomination’s Imagine No Malaria advocacy outreach.

With federal budget cuts looming, U.S. funding for malaria programs in Africa is at stake, said the advocates. They are urging government leaders to protect existing levels of funding to fight a disease that affects millions of people each year.

Read more at umc.org

Take Action! Click here to send your elected officials an email, asking them to protect funding for the fight against malaria.

Want to know more? View, download and print our Advocacy call-to-action handout and share it with those who need to know.