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The following message is from Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Chairman, Board of Governors:

Malaria Awareness Day is April 25, 2007

Did you know that malaria kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds? This disease is particularly devastating for the most vulnerable populations … pregnant women, their unborn children and children under five years of age. Worldwide, malaria causes more than one million deaths annually, 90 percent of these deaths occur in Africa. And all of this is completely preventable … we can make a difference in stopping such needless death and suffering. 

So please join me on Malaria Awareness Day, April 25, when the American Red Cross will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners, such as the President’s Malaria Initiative, UNICEF and the United Nations Foundation to name just a few, as well as our sister Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, communities and individuals. This is the first Malaria Awareness Day in the United States—a day when countries around the world come together to show solidarity in the fight against malaria.

The American Red Cross aims to mobilize 50 thousand volunteers throughout Africa over the next 2 years. This mobilization will help to educate more than 10 million people in the proper and effective use of bed nets, which is vital to prevent the spread of this disease.

We are so proud of what we have already accomplished. The American Red Cross and its partners have delivered nearly 20 million bed nets. Later this year, the Red Cross will support the distribution of more than 1.3 million bed nets in Madagascar as well as in other high-risk countries. Rarely do we have an opportunity to see, and most importantly measure, such tangible results that will help save countless lives.   

Chapters now have a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness regarding the urgent need to fight malaria in schools across the country. Scholastic has developed a curriculum on malaria in Africa geared to students in first, fifth and sixth grade. This is an opportunity for your chapter to reach out to the youth in your community with a compelling message and mission. We know how eager young people are to make a difference in our world today … and they are eager to know how they can help! 

Please join us on Malaria Awareness Day to “FIGHT THE BITE”. Together, we can stop the spread of this deadly, but preventable and treatable disease.  Please reach out to volunteers and supporters by holding events, activities and fund-raisers to raise awareness and resources to help prevent malaria.

To assist you in these efforts, we have updated the malaria page on RedCross.org. We have also developed an outreach toolkit that is available on RedCross.org and CrossNet. I urge you to use these educational tools, particularly the curriculum online.

We are eager to know how your Chapter is engaged in Malaria Awareness Day. Please send details (including number of people reached and amount of money raised) following your event so that we can share your stories and promote best practices among our colleagues and partners.

Updates or questions can be directed to Lily Jones, Outreach Coordinator, at joneslil@usa.redcross.org or (202) 303-5213.