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PSI/Tanzania Celebrates Africa Malaria Day with Net for 900
Net Breaks World Record
On April 25, 2001, Africa Malaria Day was celebrated around the continent.
One of the most spectacular events was the erection of the largest net
the world has ever seen!
The net was inspired by the Abuja net made in Nigeria for the Abuja
declaration on April 25, 2000. It measured 20 meters long, 20 meters
wide, and three meters high. Encouraged by PSI/Tanzania, the three Tanzanian
net manufacturers—TMTL, Sunflag, and A-Z—put aside their rivalry
for a day and concentrated on making a blue net measuring 30 meters
long, 30 meters wide, and four meters high.
TMTL, based in Dar es Salaam, had the net sewn; Sunflag and A-Z donated
the materials. Sewing machines were whirring right up to five minutes
before Africa Malaria Day celebrations started in Dar es Salaam. What
an amazing sight it made. Imagine a net 450 times larger than a normal
one, large enough to protect 900 school children! The number 900 was
chosen because one child dies of malaria every 30 seconds, and the World
Health Organization (WHO) Roll Back Malaria initiative aims for a 30-fold
increase in the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) by the
year 2010. The net, however, exceeded these expectations. Guinness World
Records is currently confirming that it set a new record for the largest
mosquito net in the world, measuring 30 meters by 30 meters by 4.1 meters,
and holding over 1,000 children!
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The guest of honor, Hon. Benjamin William Mkapa, President
of the United Republic of Tanzania, treating a net using
NGAO net treatment.
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Malaria kills more people every year than any other infectious disease
except HIV/AIDS. ITNs repel and kill malaria mosquitoes as shown by
research supported by WHO. The lives of some 500,000 African children
might be saved each year from malaria, if nets treated with biodegradable
pyrethroids were widely and properly used.
PSI is a partner in Roll Back Malaria. With support from multilateral
and bilateral donors, PSI is social marketing ITNs in nine African countries.
Tanzania is considered the flagship program because, with DFID and Dutch
funding, PSI is credited with increasing the diversity of net products
and decreasing their price-and Tanzania was the first country in the
world to social market home treatment on a national scale.
Treating the giant net with insecticide would have required 450 sachets,
bottles, or tablets of insecticide. It is hoped that the massive net
will inspire all countries to fight malaria using ITNs.
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The Africa Malaria Day
net, 450 times larger than normal size, is big enough
to protect 900 Tanzanian school children.
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