UNICEF: Massive bed net distribution in DR Congo

• Report rights infringement
• published: 08 Jan 2010
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http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/drcongo_52355.html KISANGANI, DR Congo , 07 January 2010 Whenever a mother arrives at the Umoja Health Centre near Kisangani with a young child who is running a temperature, vomiting, or convulsing, the health workers there know the diagnosis is likely to be malaria. It's estimated that Congolese children under the age of five suffer at least six bouts of malaria each year. More than 90,000 children die of malaria each year. Others become orphaned when their parents succumb to the illness. Even if it is available, malaria treatment is too costly for many. Madame Angele works at the health centre. She advises parents who come for postnatal consultations to keep their surroundings clean, cover their latrines and sleep under insecticide-treated nets. For many months now, UNICEF and its partners, WHO, UNITAID, USAID, the European Union and the World Bank have been working to distribute 5.5 million bed nets to 1.8 million households in Oriental and Maniema provinces. "I am convinced that the mass distribution in the two provinces will contribute to the reduction of child and maternal mortality," said UNICEF Representative in the DRC Pierrette Vu Thi.