Sumitomo Chemical is proud of our long association with the Millennium Village Project, and takes note of the historic success in reducing malaria deaths of children in Africa, which are now down by half compared with the year 2000. The accomplishments demonstrated in the Millennium Villages built critical momentum toward the global policy of Universal Coverage of bednets – and as the 2013 World Malaria Report shows, the drastic reduction of malaria incidence both in Africa and worldwide can be tracked to this policy.
Sumitomo Chemical’s engagement with the Millennium Villages began in 2006, when it donated over 330,000 Olyset Nets. When significant declines in the burden of malaria in the Millennium Villages were evident, an additional 400,000 nets were donated in 2010. Since then, the original Millennium Village clusters have continued to expand, and a total of 23 countries in Africa are undertaking Millennium Village efforts, the majority of them independently run and funded by national governments of UN agencies . The new donation of 330,000 Olyset Net will be distributed in 2014 and will include replacements for existing nets as well as expansion to households that have not received nets previously.
“Our goal in the Millennium Villages Project is to drive malaria deaths down to near zero as of 2015. Sumitomo Chemical’s new contribution, with all of the energy that it will spur, puts us on the road towards this achievement,” said Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. “The example set in the Millennium Villages shows that eliminating malaria is on the critical path to eliminating extreme poverty.
Malaria prevents adults from working and children from going to school, locking families and communities into poverty. Poverty hampers treatment and prevention, which leads to further spread of the disease. Using mathematical modeling, economists estimate the economic benefit of continued progress in reducing and eliminating malaria to be more than $208 billion globally between 2013-2035. About 3.3 billion people – half of the world’s population – are at risk of malaria, and every year more than 200 million people are diagnosed with malaria.
Innovative vector control measures, such as Sumitomo Chemical’s Olyset Net and Olyset Plus, help to break this vicious cycle by protecting people from malaria, reducing child mortality, and improving maternal health. As we approach the MDG milestone year of 2015, Sumitomo Chemical remains deeply committed to providing innovative vector control products to fight malaria, and to showing that the attainment of global malaria goals is possible.
To find out more about the Millenium Villages and their Sumitomo Chemical supported bednet campaigns click on the links below:
http://millenniumvillages.org/videos/breaking-through-millennium-villages-project-year-five
http://millenniumvillages.org/field-notes/millennium-villages-the-art-of-scaling-up
Please support the World Health Organisation #Just1Bite campaign this World Health Day.