Todd Jennings from PATH continues to send in daily updates about World Malaria Day from Zambia.

World Malaria Day was born Africa Malaria Day following a commitment by African leaders in 2001. The Abuja summit set benchmarks for malaria control and prevention by 44 African countries, including Zambia. Recognizing that the disease reaches beyond this continent, the commemoration is now known as World Malaria Day. This year’s slogan (Malaria, a disease without borders) and theme (United Against Malaria) demonstrate how connected we are in the 21st century. People travel more than ever and mosquitoes don’t respect borders, so it’s imperative that countries work together to fight malaria.

Yesterday, the First Lady of Zambia, Maureen Mwanawasa, gave a talk about HIV/AIDS and malaria, an interaction she described as the collision of hippos and elephants. Those with developing or compromised immune systems—children under five, pregnant mothers, the chronically ill—are most at risk of malaria.

World Malaria Day, the First Lady reminded us, is not a day to be depressed about the toll of the disease. Rather it’s a day to celebrate what’s possible. We have the means to prevent malaria at our disposal—treated bednets, house spraying, lifesaving drugs. All that’s left is for people to join together to kick malaria out of Zambia, Africa, and the world.

UPDATE: In this video clip, see the First Lady of Zambia deliver her malaria address:

-Todd Jennings, Advocacy Officer, Malaria Control and Evaluation Partnership in Africa (MACEPA), a program at PATH, Lusaka, Zambia.

Photo credit: Paul Sachika

Todd Jennings from PATH continues to send in daily updates about World Malaria Day from Zambia.

The impact of malaria goes beyond the chills and the sweating, the dizziness and even death. It devastates families, communities, economies. Take a world map showing where malaria is common and overlay it on one showing the world’s poorest regions: it’s the same really, a wide belt of suffering around the equator.

One figure heard often is that Africa loses more than 12 billion dollars each year due to malaria. I don’t know how that was calculated, but I do know that the disease shackles growth and development. If your child is sick from malaria, she isn’t attending school, and a parent must miss work to care for her. From a parasite delivered by a mosquito, a family bears a loss in education, work and income.

Peter Chintu will never forget January 13th, 1997. He came home from traveling to find his four-year-old son, Abraham, not feeling well. Peter knew it was serious so he slung his son on his back with fabric and bicycled to the hospital in Mazabuka, about seven miles away. In a few hours Abraham was dead.

At 45 years of age, Peter is now the elder statesman in the 2008 Zambia Race Against Malaria from Serenje Livingstone. He is committed to sharing his experience with others so they and their families will protect themselves from the disease. Peter can recite the measures by heart: sleep under a treated bednet every night, allow your home to be sprayed, seek immediate diagnosis and treatment if you have the symptoms of malaria (fever, chills, sweating, loss of appetite…) He sat down with me in Lusaka after today’s grueling 122-mile ride (only 300 miles to go!). In this audio clip, he describes the cruel intersection of malaria and poverty.

-Todd Jennings, Advocacy Officer, Malaria Control and Evaluation Partnership in Africa (MACEPA), a program at PATH, Lusaka, Zambia. Photo credit: Jesper Lublinkhof.

Friday, April 25 is the first-ever World Malaria Day, commemorating the global effort to control malaria and reduce the toll it takes on individuals, families, and economies in endemic countries. Malaria is a top killer of children in Zambia, where I live and work, but the country is making progress against the disease by making proven malaria prevention and treatment methods available to the people who need them most.

A week of World Malaria Day events started today in Zambia, where a nationwide Prayer Night took place this evening in churches across the country. My wife, Anne Jennings, attended and photographed the vigil in Lusaka, where a candlelight procession and choral music filled the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, the capital city’s largest church.

A 920-km cycling race also started today and the week holds many more events to raise awareness about malaria. Watch the ONE Blog and check my journal on path.org for more all this week.

-Todd Jennings, Advocacy Officer, Malaria Control and Evaluation Partnership in Africa (MACEPA), a program at PATH, Lusaka, Zambia