Chilmark reaches goal of $500 for Imagine No Malaria

As of Sunday, with the help of Bob’s matching funds, Chilmark Community Church surpassed it’s goal of $500 for the campaign. We’ll be sending the New England Conference $571 toward the goal. See below.

Can We Catch a Killer?

Every 60 seconds, malaria claims a life in Africa. The people of the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church are unified in the fight against a needless killer with Imagine No Malaria.

Imagine No Malaria is an extraordinary effort of the United Methodist Church as we put our faith into action all across the denomination to end preventable deaths by malaria in Africa, especially the death of a child or a mother. Our goal in the New England Annual Conference is to save 150,000 lives by raising $1.5 million for Imagine No Malaria.

New England Campaign Progress:

Achieving the goal of ending preventable deaths by malaria requires an integrated strategy against the disease. As a life-saving ministry, Imagine No Malaria aims to empower the people of Africa to overcome malaria’s burden. We in the New England Conference join with other United Methodists to fight malaria with a comprehensive model.

In 2006, we entered into the fight with Nothing But Nets program. Imagine No Malaria will continue to support Nothing But Nets and build partnerships, because bed nets are an effective tool against the disease.

We are making a difference

But there is still more work to do

Just a few short years ago, statistics showed a child died every 30 seconds of malaria. Today, because of your dedicated and generous support by United Methodists, malaria’s impact has been cut in half.

According to the World Health Organization (World Malaria Report 2011), this disease now claims a life every 60 seconds. We seek to end all preventable deaths from malaria, so our journey continues….

Now, Imagine No Malaria helps us take the next step in this fight (think of it as Nets Plus). We’re doing more and addressing this issue on a variety of fronts, including Prevention, Education, Communications, and Treatment.

Prevention:

To date, Imagine No Malaria is responsible for the distribution of 1.2 million insecticide-treated bed nets throughout the continent.

Education:

We know that local people are the most credible and trusted source for information about malaria. We have trained more than 5,400 community health workers to personally deliver mosquito nets and measure usage rates. Recent efforts in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo have produced net usage rates exceeding 80 percent.

Communication:

Behavior-change communication includes how to use and care for a bed net, and when to seek treatment for the disease. In addition to word-of-mouth outreach, the United Methodist radio station in Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) broadcasts messages about malaria to thousands of listeners each day.

Treatment:

The United Methodist Church operates more than 300 hospitals, clinics and health posts throughout Africa. This vital healthcare infrastructure is a critical part of how we will overcome the disease. In order to be effective, however, these facilities must have life-saving resources like rapid diagnostic tests and malaria medication.