Ibuga, Tanzania

The Linus family realises the benefits of mosquito nets.

Malaria remains a major health threat in Ibuga, as in many communities in Tanzania’s Kagera Region, especially amongst pregnant women and young children. Malaria caused 59 per cent of the 828 deaths of children under five reported in the ADP area during 2000-2002.

To help control the disease, the Ibuga ADP runs awareness programmes in the community, teaching people about malaria transmission and control - and how using a mosquito net can save lives.

After training from the ADP nurse, Mrs Linus and her family began to use their nets, but it took some getting used to.

“Our children Leonidas and Avitus were afraid to sleep under the net for the first few days! Now our family is glad to have the nets. We sleep comfortably at night and the cases of malaria have reduced.

“We’ve come to realise that using a mosquito net is cheaper than treating malaria cases. Before, we got malaria several times and would spend a lot of money in treatment,” says Mrs Linus.

Leonidas and Avitus are both sponsored by New Zealanders through Ibuga ADP. Sponsorship funds help in the fight against malaria, but such is the size of the problem in this region that World Vision sought additional funding for a special malaria project in Kagera’s Muleba District.

With financial assistance from the New Zealand Government under its Voluntary Agencies Support Scheme, World Vision Tanzania began the four-year Muleba Malaria Control Project in 2003. The mosquito nets were distributed as part of this project.

WVNZ Programmes Officer Murray Boardman visited Ibuga in February 2004. He is excited about the project’s early successes and future potential.

“It has probably had one of the most significant impacts of any project WV New Zealand has been involved in,” says Mr Boardman. “It was the first dedicated malaria project for WV Tanzania, and has led to others being started. Now WV Tanzania has been granted $US3 million from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria*, so this kind of project can be replicated on a national basis.”

* The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria (GFATM) is an independent body that receives funding from donor governments, multilateral agencies, non-government organisations, private sector representatives, and representatives from the communities affected by these three diseases. It works closely with UN bodies including the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).