Collaboration
Collaborating for Good: Malaria No More Mar 31, 2017
Sometimes a name says it all. The nonprofit organization, Malaria No More, is engaged in an audacious collaborative effort to annihilate one of the wiliest and deadliest diseases on the planet. For thousands of years, malaria has decimated populations and caused immeasurable individual suffering. A global killer, the disease is so widespread and so adaptive that efforts to eradicate it have always seemed hopelessly futile.
Until now.
A historic goal in sight
At the turn of the new century, an unprecedented confluence of factors put malaria squarely in the crosshairs for the first time in human history. A powerful coalition of seasoned actors in the public health arena reached critical consensus on the need for a focused, sustained, all-out campaign across nations and disciplines.
Humanitarian organizations like Malaria No More, governments of countries large and small, leading-edge research institutions, technology innovators and medical experts threw themselves into the fight against malaria – with truly astonishing results.
Since the year 2000, overall funding for malaria prevention, treatment and research has risen by 1,000 percent. That massive increase has fueled life-saving innovations, interventions and initiatives. And in less than two short decades, malaria deaths have fallen by almost 60%.
That’s many millions of lives saved – and counting.
Keeping the momentum going
There have been few global success stories quite like this war against malaria – but it’s crucial to note that the remaining chapters have yet to be written. The ultimate success of the world community’s brazen assault against one of the oldest serial killers known to man today hangs in the balance.
If the global coalition against malaria can sustain current levels of focus and funding, rigorous projections support the previously unthinkable conclusion that malaria could literally be wiped off the face of the earth by 2040. That incredible opportunity -- to be the generation that eliminates the scourge of malaria once and for all – is also an urgent call to action.
Focusing on the finish line
At this juncture in the campaign, there are very real dangers on all sides. 500,000 children under the age of five still die of malaria every year. Trillions of dollars in economic activity are lost to the debilitating effects of the disease, which continues at epidemic levels in many struggling communities. There is still much to be done.
The work ahead will be a race against time. A race to develop vaccines and treatments that stay ahead of malaria’s diabolical ability to develop resistance to new drugs and pesticides. A race to beat back complacency and attrition in the powerful coalition necessary to wage this fight on all fronts. A race to reach the most vulnerable and remote communities before another innocent child – with his trusting eyes or her shy smile – dies an unnecessary death from malaria.
Imagining a world without malaria
Building on the extraordinary momentum generated by successful eradication efforts around the world, Malaria No More is working toward a future free of malaria. The tools in their arsenal are formidable:
- Rapid diagnostic tests for timely and accurate identification of the disease in even the most remote locations.
- Low-cost, life-saving combination drug therapies capable of curing a child in just a few days.
- Long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets to protect against mosquitoes at night, when most malaria transmission occurs.
- Carefully calibrated indoor insecticide spraying to reduce disease while protecting the environment.
- And promising ongoing research into new preventions and treatments, including the holy grail of malaria research – an effective vaccine.
How you can help
At Legistics, we believe that collaboration can change the world. To find out more about how you can help defeat one of mankind’s oldest enemies, please visit www.malarianomore.org.
To learn more about how our team at Legistics can collaborate with you to achieve your loftiest business goals, please visit our home page.