Malaria

Canada is Helping to Prevent and Treat Malaria

Introduction

Malaria and pneumonia are two of the leading causes of child death in developing countries, killing an estimated three million people per year. These diseases are interconnected, as it is common for a child to have both malaria and pneumonia at the same time, and these diseases have nearly identical symptoms. The greatest proportion of deaths due to malaria and pneumonia occurs in sub-Saharan Africa, with the highest toll on young children. Canada, through CIDA, is playing its part to fight malaria and pneumonia in developing countries, where these diseases are most prevalent.

What is Canada doing to fight malaria?

Community-based Treatment Initiatives

CIDA is focusing its efforts on expanding access to free treatment for the poor. The quick and effective treatment of malaria and pneumonia is essential: both diseases can lead to death within 24-48 hours. Since it can be difficult for the poorest to reach a clinic or hospital in time, treatment must be available near the home to save lives.

To substantially decrease child mortality, CIDA, through working with its partners, is supporting a community-based approach to health care by providing a modern malaria medicine in artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), and treating pneumonia near the home, where the need is the greatest.

Beginning in 2008, CIDA has committed $60 million for three groundbreaking community-based treatment programs to treat children in Africa for malaria and pneumonia. CIDA is supporting programs that will save lives by providing free treatment for malaria and pneumonia at the community level with Population Services International, Malaria Consortium, and Save the Children. It is estimated that these programs will reach more than two million children and save more than 135,000 lives. For more information about these and other CIDA malaria-related projects, please see the Project Browser.

Key Results

Malaria Prevention

Canada, through CIDA, has demonstrated strong results in the prevention of malaria through the provision of free long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) as the first major element in its approach to combat this disease:

• More than 7.9 million long-lasting ITNs have been distributed in Africa since 2003 as a result of CIDA funding.
• CIDA funding to Togo enabled the nationwide distribution of more than 900,000 ITNs. In a two-week period, household ownership of ITNs increased from 8 percent to 62 percent. This program provided an ITN for each child in the country.
• CIDA funding to Sierra Leone enabled the nationwide distribution of more than 875,000 ITNs.
• CIDA has been a strong supporter of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). As of December 2008, the fund has financed the distribution of more than 70 million ITNs.

Canada's Commitment

• Canada has been a leading donor country in financing programs to distribute free, long-lasting ITNs in Africa. Since 2003, CIDA has given approximately $52.5 million to the Canadian Red Cross and UNICEF to provide ITNs to Africans.
• CIDA also supports malaria prevention and treatment efforts through the GFATM, which allocates a quarter of its total funds for the prevention and treatment of this disease.
• Budget 2008, launched on February 26, 2008, confirmed that CIDA would be building on its commitment to the GFATM by providing an additional $450 million over the next three years, making CIDA's total commitment $978.4 million to this organization.

Facts About Malaria

• Prior to the mass distribution of ITNs financed by CIDA and other donors, less than five percent of households in most African countries had ITNs, with the poorest households being the least likely to have any.
• Research has shown that ITNs reduce child deaths by approximately 20 percent and malaria-related infections by 50 percent.
• Bed nets are not the only way to decrease fatalities due to malaria: once a child is infected with the disease, it is essential that they are able to access treatment within 24-48 hours.
• The World Health Organization released a report on malaria programs in four highly malaria-endemic countries-Ethiopia, Rwanda, Zambia, and Ghana-in which ITNs were distributed to all families with at least one child under the age of five, and ACT was provided free of charge in every public clinic. In Ethiopia, child deaths fell by 51 percent; in Rwanda, they dropped by 66 percent (January 2008).