This week, actress, singer and humanitarian Mandy Moore arrived in Cameroon to raise awareness for the nation’s first-ever countrywide distribution of anti-malaria mosquito nets. Malaria is the number one cause of death in Cameroon among children under five.
Moore is traveling with PSI (Population Services International), an international global health organization for which she has been a long-time Ambassador; and the UN Foundation's Nothing But Nets — a global, grassroots campaign to end malaria in Africa. Nothing But Nets recently launched an appeal to rush 225,000 life-saving nets to Cameroon in time for the distribution.
“I’m meeting the people who need these nets to stay safe from malaria—from two-year-olds to the Prime Minister,” said Moore. “I’m proud to be a part of this historic effort that will save thousands of lives here in Cameroon, and grateful for the help of so many American supporters who are donating to make this possible.”
A child dies every 45 seconds from malaria, a disease that can be spread by a single mosquito bite. These deaths could be easily prevented with simple and cost-effective prevention tools like insecticide-treated nets, which can curb malaria transmission by 90 percent in areas with high coverage rates. Nothing But Nets is teaming up with UNICEF and PSI to make sure families in Cameroon get the nets they need as quickly as possible.
“It’s hard to believe that a preventable disease kills more people in Cameroon than anything else,” said Nothing But Nets director Chris Helfrich. “The good news is we know nets work. We’ve seen our supporters come together to send life-saving nets to families across Africa, and we are confident that we will meet the need to quickly protect families here in Cameroon.”
This landmark, large-scale bed net distribution in Cameroon is a crucial step in reaching the global goal of ending malaria deaths by 2015. Bed nets work: according to The World Health Organization, enough bed nets have been delivered to cover 76 percent of the 765 million people at risk for malaria, and in three years, 11 African countries have cut malaria rates in half.
To date, Nothing But Nets has raised more than $35 million to distribute more than 4 million nets to families throughout Africa. For more information and Mandy Moore’s daily blog from Cameroon, please visit www.NothingButNets.net.
