Happy Africa Malaria Day!

It’s that time of the year again, folks: Africa Malaria Day!

For those of you who aren’t buddies with our friend Plasmodium (the parasite that causes malaria), he’s a nasty little buggers that kills somewhere between 1 and 3 million people a year – mostly small children. Here in the Congo, it’s estimated that kids under five get malaria about 4 times a year, which boils down to a serious death threat every three months.

But the good news that using a mosquito net treated with insecticide can cut your chance of getting malaria in half. And life saving drugs based on the Chinese plant Artemisia (or Sweet Annie as it’s called in the US) can save your life if you do get sick. It’s all a matter of getting access to these products: both physically and financially. Even Ashley Judd is getting into the fight against malaria!

So give a shout to your government to keep the anti-malaria money coming or give a few bucks to a good organisation that can get a net to a kiddo in the bush.

(See last’s year’s Africa Malaria Day post)