Seattle, January 16, 2020—Malaria No More is proud to join partners around the world in celebrating the impact of global efforts to develop and deliver 2 billion insecticide-treated mosquito nets since 2004 to hundreds of millions of families at risk of malaria. The simple and effective intervention is responsible for 68% of the malaria cases prevented in Africa since 2000, and contributed to global efforts that saved more than 7.5 million people and prevented more than 1.4 billion malaria cases since 2000.

“The rapid scale-up of insecticide-treated mosquito nets – particularly in Africa – has turned the tide against malaria, putting the world on the path to ending this ancient disease within our lifetimes,” said Martin Edlund, CEO of Malaria No More. “In the process, the insecticide-treated net has proven itself an essential life-saving tool for a generation of Africans, and has become a symbol of effective foreign assistance.”

Since its founding in 2006 at the White House Malaria Summit, Malaria No More has championed the global fight against malaria by mobilizing the political commitments, innovations and funding needed to end malaria, a preventable disease that kills a child every 2 minutes. As a leading advocate for increasing and sustaining global commitment to ensure no one dies from a mosquito bite, Malaria No More reinforces the value of U.S. investments in the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and U.S. research institutions, for the scale up and distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets. Over the years, Malaria No More’s advocacy contributed to global resource mobilization efforts that grew funding to fight malaria by approximately 1000% between 2000-2015, fueling the purchase and global distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

Tapping Malaria No More’s network

Through Malaria No More’s work with partners, the insecticide-treated mosquito net has come to symbolize this generation’s opportunity to end malaria forever. Partnering with American Idol Gives Back in 2007, Malaria No More helped to educate more than 60 million Americans about malaria and raised tens of millions of dollars in funds, including for insecticide-treated mosquito nets. In 2008, Malaria No More also supported U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s unprecedented call to protect all people at risk of malaria with insecticide-treated mosquito nets, which helped to dramatically expand access to this life-saving tool since 2009.

In 2010, Ashton Kutcher announced that he would donate 10,000 insecticide-treated nets to Malaria No More if the public helped him become the first Twitter user to reach 1 million followers on the platform (ahead of CNN). Kutcher was joined in the social media challenge by celebrities including Anderson Cooper, Oprah Winfrey, Sean Combs and Ryan Seacrest to ultimately deliver nearly 90,000 insecticide-treated nets to Senegal via Malaria No More.

Through innovative public awareness campaigns withAfrican Presidents, leading mobile telecom operators, and top stars of African musicand sport, Malaria No More helped to reach tens of millions of Africans with informationand reminders to protect themselves through nightly use of insecticide-treated mosquitonets. Today, Malaria No More is supporting India’s goal to be malaria-free by2030, including with advocacy and education efforts to ensure adequate fundingfor the distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets in India’s highestmalaria burden states.

Theinsecticide-treated mosquito net changed the fight against malaria

In2000, nearly half the world went to bed each night at risk of getting a deadlymosquito bite. Since then, global efforts to scaleup and distribute insecticide-treated mosquito nets helped save and protectmillions from malaria. In 2004, just 5.5million insecticide-treated mosquito nets were delivered and distributed in malaria endemic countriesaround the world. In 2018, the number of insecticide-treated nets distributed globally was almost 200 million. Between 2010 and 2018, thenumber of pregnant women and children under five in sub-Saharan Africa whoslept under an insecticide-treated mosquito net more than doubled – up from 26%to 61%, according to the World Health Organization, thanks to increased fundingand global and national partners working together to purchase, distribute andincrease the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets by millions of familiesat risk for malaria. 

However, almost 40% of pregnant women andchildren under 5 in sub-Saharan Africa still sleep without nets. Growinginsecticide resistance requires development, testing and scale up of new typesof insecticide-treated mosquito nets in targeted areas.

Continued US leadership critical to endingmalaria

The United States has been crucial tosupporting the global fight against malaria, especially through significantinvestments in The Global Fund and PMI. These programs are the biggest driversof the progress working together with malaria-endemic countries and partners todistribute more than 1.5 billion insecticide-treated mosquito netssince 2004.

“Lifesaving insecticide-treated mosquito netsrepresent one of the most effective, efficient U.S. investments to save and improvepeople’s lives, particularly pregnant women and children in sub-Saharan Africa,”said Josh Blumenfeld, Managing Director, Global Policy and Advocacy at MalariaNo More. “With growing insecticide resistance, U.S. support to the Global Fundand PMI must continue as they work with malaria-affected countries to distributeinsecticide-treated mosquito nets with new types of insecticides to places highin resistance based on improved uses of data, monitoring and real-timereporting by malaria-affected countries and partners.”

Last month, Congress increased funding for PMIby $15 million to $770 million for FY20, specifically to purchase new mosquito nets treated with next generationinsecticides and other active ingredients and target their distribution in areas of high resistance ofsub-Saharan Africa. Congress also approved $1.56 billion for the Global Fund, a 15.6 percent increaseabove the FY19 enacted level, and will include funding allocations to buy anddistribute more insecticide-treated mosquito nets. 

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For more information or interview requests, contact Wynne Boelt at +1 206 661 2798 or Wynne.Boelt@malarianomore.org.

About Malaria No More

Malaria No More envisions a world where no one dies from a mosquito bite. More than a decade into our mission, our work has contributed to historic progress toward this goal. Now, we’re mobilizing the political commitment, funding, and innovation required to achieve what would be one of the greatest humanitarian accomplishments – ending malaria within our generation. For more information, visit www.malarianomore.org.