Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

FROM THE FIELD

India: Fighting the mosquito menace
21 Nov 2008 10:02:00 GMT
 Source: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) - Switzerland
By Amit Kumar, IFRC communications officer, India

Website: Website: http://www.ifrc.org/tsunami

218536 logo
Two Indian Red Cross volunteers proudly demonstrate how to hang a mosquito net as they unfurl one of the many nets that will be given out to community members. Mosquito nets provide a physical barrier against malaria-infected mosquitoes, which bite at night. (p18558)
Previous | Next
Two Indian Red Cross volunteers proudly demonstrate how to hang a mosquito net as they unfurl one of the many nets that will be given out to community members. Mosquito nets provide a physical barrier against malaria-infected mosquitoes, which bite at night. (p18558)

Background

•  Disaster risk reduction

•  Health and diseases

•  Chikungunya

•  Indian Ocean tsunami

•  AIDS pandemic

MORE >>
Sleeping is always a gamble in the village of Thengapattinam, on the southern coast of India. You never know when a mosquito bite could cause malaria or another life-threatening disease. For Fatima Bibi, this is crucial. As a mother of two, she worries constantly about her children's health.

An estimated three billion people - almost half the world's population - live in malaria endemic areas. In India, more than two million cases are reported every year. Although there is no vaccine for malaria, it is preventable if proper precautions are taken before the mosquito bites.

Several studies have shown that regular use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets can reduce overall mortality rates for children under five years old by about 20 per cent in malaria-endemic areas.

Breeding grounds

"Heavy rains, coupled with other factors, such as numerous mosquito breeding grounds near coconut trees, are making areas vulnerable for malaria and other diseases in coastal villages of Kanyakumari," says Dr. Nirmal Singh, director of community health for the American Red Cross in India.

Community health assessments carried out in 40 targeted villages revealed an urgent need to fight the mosquito menace. To this end, the Indian Red Cross, with support from the American Red Cross and facilitation by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), was awarded a grant from Against Malaria Foundation for the provision of 20,000 insecticide treated mosquito nets.

"We were given 20,000 insecticide-treated nets as a donation through the IFRC in Geneva and Against Malaria Foundation, and they are ready to give 10,000 more," says Dr. Vimala Ramalingam, President of the Indian Red Cross Society in Tamil Nadu.

Physical barrier

Elaborating further, Dr. Ramalingam said that these nets provide a sleeping individual with a physical barrier against malaria-infected mosquitos, which bite at night. In addition, a net treated with insecticide provides much greater protection by repelling or killing mosquitoes that rest on the net - an additional and important protective effect that extends beyond the individual to the community.

In the first phase, beneficiaries of 15 communities will benefit by receiving the nets, including Fatima and her children. As the programme progresses, all 40 communities involved in the integrated recovery initiative will also receive nets, providing protection to more than 7,500 families.

"Now my family will be safe from the mosquitoes and we will not fall sick often," added Fatima, with a sigh of relief.

Editorial contributions made by Ramsey Rayyis, Regional Representative, American Red Cross, New Delhi, India and Eric Porterfield, Press Officer, American Red Cross, Washington, DC.


[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Email this article       Send comments

Topics

•  Disaster risk reduction

•  Health

•  Women

MORE >>

Emergencies

•  Indian Ocean tsunami

MORE >>

Members

•  International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) - Switzerland

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  India: Fighting the mosquito menace
IFRC - Switzerland

•  Merlin launches campaign on global health worker crisis
Merlin - UK

•  Aid agencies launch joint appeal to ease Congo humanitarian crisis
DEC - UK

•  CONDITION: CRITICAL - Voices from the war in eastern DR Congo
MSF International

•  World Vision responding to cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe
WV - USA

MORE >>

Latest news

•  India revises Kashmir death toll to 47,000

•  US Navy says no word on Somali pirate ransom demand

•  Troops patrol Kashmir to thwart anti-poll protests

•  DRC-UGANDA: Refugees seek a better life over the border

•  US Navy says no word on Somali pirate ransom demand

MORE >>

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Background information

Briefings
Indian Ocean tsunami - [Who works where]

Topics
Disaster risk reduction Health Women
Facts & figures
India

Related articles

Breaking stories
 India revises Kashmir death toll to 47,000 (1 minute ago)

US Navy says no word on Somali pirate ransom demand (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 Insecurity, slow rebuilding hamper Pakistan quake recovery (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 India: Fighting the mosquito menace (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 HAVE YOUR SAY - What will Obama mean for Africa? (1 minute ago)

Maps
 Tropical storm Noul (1 minute ago)


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-20T191027Z_01_FOR04_RTRIDSP_2_CONGO-DEMOCRATIC-CHILDREN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/FOR04.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-20T190925Z_01_FOR03_RTRIDSP_2_CONGO-DEMOCRATIC-CHILDREN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/FOR03.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-20T190218Z_01_FOR01_RTRIDSP_2_CONGO-DEMOCRATIC-CHILDREN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/FOR01.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-20T185937Z_01_FOR02_RTRIDSP_2_CONGO-DEMOCRATIC-CHILDREN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/FOR02.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-11-20T143512Z_01_AFR60_RTRIDSP_2_CONGO-DEMOCRATIC_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/AFR60.htm

A cholera patient lies in a bed at the Don Bosco center in Goma in eastern Congo, November 20, 2008. Fighting in eastern Congo has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Fri Nov 21 10:08:49 2008