Freedom From Malaria

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the majority of households in malaria-prevalent regions currently possess only one net, but this doesn't provide adequate protection for everyone in the family. The WHO views one net for every two people as the standard for sufficient coverage. Taking that benchmark into account, there is a shortage of nets in low- and middle-income countries with only 43 percent of people having adequate protection.

Distributing malaria nets to children and adults most at risk of contracting the disease ensures everyone receives the protective benefit the nets offer, which strengthens the health of the entire community.

A child's health must be tenaciously protected. Childhood is characterized by freedom, play, and hopeful futures full of potential. These pillars of childhood are stripped away when sickness and dangerous diseases such as malaria threaten a child's life.

In the gospels, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan who advocated for the well-being of a man in need and ensured that this stranger was brought to good health. When asked, those listening to Jesus' parable pointed to the Samaritan as an example of what a good neighbor looks like. In Luke 10:37, Jesus instructed them to "go and do likewise" (NIV). Where there are people in need, the gospel message instructs us to be a source of help, care, and provision.

Our Malaria Intervention Initiative gives poor children and their family’s resources for healthy living and malaria prevention. It includes:

• Mosquito bed nets treated with insecticide, along with training in how to properly use a net
• Anti-malarial drugs, IV medication, transfusions, and breathing treatments
• Education on ways to prevent mosquito breeding areas
• Resources to clean mosquito breeding grounds, such as ponds and standing water bodies

This World Malaria Day, you can help a generation of children grow up free from the threat of malaria. By helping us provide antimalarial drugs and insecticide-treated mosquito nets to at-risk children and their families, you help make it possible for them to live up to their God-given potential.