World Malaria Day 2011 – It’s Okay to Get Angry

I’m angry.

A detestable and reprehensible disease preys on the most vulnerable in society.

Malaria.

Nearly 3.3 billion people are vulnerable to contracting malaria in 106 countries.

That’s half of humanity.

Don’t believe me? How about some stats from malarianomore.org:

• In the year 2009, Malaria took 780,000 lives.
• 85 percent of malaria deaths globally were children under age 5.
• Every 45 seconds, a child dies from malaria.

As I discussed malaria with friends, the same question kept surfacing in my mind:

Why are we not more upset about this?

We hear about diseases and war ravaging continents, but why are we overlooking the disease brought by a tiny mosquito? Is it because malaria is not trendy enough? Maybe it feels too big and broad.

There is good news, though.

Malaria is a preventable disease! A mosquito net can be the difference between life and death. And we are indeed making progress. Our “Bite Back” campaign is part of that progress.

The theme for World Malaria Day 2011, which is today, is “Achieving Progress and Impact.” It’s a time to celebrate the victories of the past couple of years, but also to stress the great needs in order to reach near-zero deaths by 2015.

It’s OK to get angry. But don’t just get angry. Act.

So today is World Malaria Day. What are you doing about it?

LINK UP: If you’ve written a post (past or present) about the issue of malaria in general, or the work we’re doing in the fight against malaria, please link up with us so we can all benefit. Thanks.