[CCIH-NEWS] Episcopal Relief & Development works through African churches to control malaria

[MartinRS at aol.com]

The article copied below reports on testimony at a U.S. Congressional  
hearing about the major contribution of the church and FBO health  infrastructure in 
Africa to the global effort to control malaria. It  focuses on the work of 
Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), _http://www.er-d.org_ 
(http://www.er-d.org) , in collaboration with  NetsforLifeSM, 
_http://www.netsforlifeafrica.org/_ (http://www.netsforlifeafrica.org/) ,  a partnership of private donors, 
churches and corporations including Coca-Cola  Africa Foundation, Standard 
Chartered Bank, the Exxon Mobil Foundation and the  Starr Foundation.
 
The report comes from the The Roundtable on Religion and Social Welfare  
Policy, Impartial News and Analysis of Faith-Based Social Services from the  
Rockefeller Institute of Government at the State University of New York. It  is 
online at _http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6380_ 
(http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=6380) 
 
Tim Ziemer, the coordinator of the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative  
mentioned in the article, will be attending part of the May 26-28 CCIH  annual 
conference near Washington, DC, and speaking at a malaria workshop.
 
The long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets used in the program,  
PermaNet®, are manufactured by CCIH Affiliate Vestergaard Frandsen, 
_http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/_ (http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/) 
 
For an ERD statement recognizing Africa Malaria Day, see 
_http://www.er-d.org/newsroom_85243_ENG_HTM.htm_ 
(http://www.er-d.org/newsroom_85243_ENG_HTM.htm) 
 
See also Net Gains in the Fight Against Malaria, a comment by  Robert Radtke, 
ERD President, at _http://www.er-d.org/newsroom_85195_ENG_HTM.htm_ 
(http://www.er-d.org/newsroom_85195_ENG_HTM.htm) 
 
 
 
ERD Congressional Testimony highlights  role of faith-based institutions 
in fighting malaria in  Africa
 
Publisher: Episcopal Life Online, Apr 26, 2007
By: Episcopal Life Online

In a hearing to mark Africa Malaria Day April 25, Episcopal Relief and  
Development (ERD) testified before a key U.S. congressional subcommittee on the  
role of faith-based organizations in fighting the malaria pandemic in Africa. 
 
"The Church and other faith communities ... are the first point of contact  
for help," Susan Lassen, a consultant who coordinates ERD's NetsForLife program 
 in malaria control, told the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa 
and  Global Health.
 
"Faith communities have long had the ability to build and mobilize a  
delivery system that will reach the most vulnerable populations who live 'at the  end 
of the road,'" said ERD President Robert W. Radtke.
 
Unparalleled infrastructure, capacity

"As the global community develops new and innovative methods to control  and 
prevent malaria, the challenge of distribution becomes absolutely critical,"  
Lassen told committee members.  "NetsforLife capitalizes on the  
infrastructure of the Anglican Church to reach vulnerable populations."
 
NetsforLife is a one-year-old initiative of ERD, carried out in partnership  
with the Anglican Churches of Africa, to distribute one million  
insecticide-treated malaria-prevention bed nets in 16 sub-Saharan African  countries by the 
end of 2008. Thus far, the program has distributed 213,000 nets  in Angola, 
Zambia, Kenya, Ghana, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,  and 
Mozambique.  It is funded by private individual donors, Churches, the  Starr 
Foundation, the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, the ExxonMobil Foundation,  and 
Standard Chartered Bank.  To learn more about NetsForLife, visit 
_www.er-d.org/malaria_ (http://www.er-d.org/malaria)  
 
Also testifying at the hearing were Admiral Tim Ziemer, coordinator of the  
United States President's Malaria Initiative; Mark Grabowski, Malaria program  
manager for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Enid  
Wamani, secretariat coordinator for the Uganda Malaria and Childhood Illness  
organization; Dr. Nils Daulaire, president of the Global Health Council; and  
Adel Chaouch of Marathon Oil and the Corporate Alliance on Malaria in  Africa.
 
Bed nets are large sheets of insecticide-treated meshing designed to be  
draped over the beds or sleeping areas of people living in regions where malaria  
is prevalent. The nets shield users from malaria-carrying mosquitoes, which  
spread the disease during night hours. 
 
Health-care professionals consider net use fundamental to efforts to  prevent 
the spread of the disease, which causes more than 300 million acute  
illnesses and at least one-million deaths each year in developing  countries.
 
"A mother and her two children can be protected from malaria for five years  
for a total cost of approximately $12," ERD told the subcommittee, explaining  
that this cost reflects not only the price of the net but also training in  
proper use, education in other methods to prevent malaria, and ongoing  
monitoring and evaluation.
 
An emerging consensus

In addition to ERD's focus on mobilizing the infrastructures of African  
Churches, the Episcopal Church is supporting malaria-control efforts through its  
advocacy to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), said Alex  
Baumgarten, international policy analyst in the Church's Office of Government  
Relations in Washington, D.C. Goal 6 of the MDGs is "combat HIV/AIDS, malaria  and 
other diseases."
 
"The advocacy of Episcopalians through the ONE Episcopalian campaign is  
playing an important role in building a new consensus in the U.S. Congress and  
Administration that fighting deadly poverty and disease throughout the world  
should stand at the forefront of our nation's foreign policy," said  Baumgarten.
 
Since the beginning of 2007, Congress has approved more than $1.3 billion  in 
increased funding for anti-poverty and disease initiatives, with the Senate  
voting to further increase funding over the coming year by an additional $2  
billion.
 
"The understanding among U.S. policymakers of the relationship between  
poverty and disease and its affect on conflict and global stability is light  years 
ahead of where it was two or three years ago," said Baumgarten.
 
President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush addressed the importance of  
malaria-control efforts in comments yesterday in the White House Rose Garden to  
commemorate Africa Malaria Day.  Speaking about the eradication of malaria  in the 
United States in the 1950s, President Bush said, "we've solved this  problem 
before. And the fundamental question is: do we have the will to do the  same 
thing on another continent? That's really the question that faces this  country 
and other nations around the world. My commitment is: you bet we have  the 
will. And we've got a strategy to do so."
 
"Defeating malaria is going to be a challenge, but it's not going to  require 
a miracle," said the President. "That's what I'm here to tell you. It's  
going to require a smart and sustained campaign."
 
The Rose Garden ceremony highlighted the work of the President's Malaria  
Initiative (PMI), a five-year $1.2 billion initiative to spur government  
partnership with private organizations, including faith-based institutions, in  the 
fight against malaria. Baumgarten said that the Episcopal Church is actively  
advocating for maximum congressional funding of PMI and related efforts.
 
Wholeness and wellbeing

In her testimony, Lassen also stressed the unique level of commitment  and 
energy that faith communities draw from their theological background and  
experiences:  "For the faithful of Africa...their core identity is shaped  by the 
sense that God is using them to help draw their communities into the  wholeness 
and wellbeing he intended for them when he created the world and  proclaimed 
it good."
 
Lassen told subcommittee members of an Angolan woman named Malita who lost  a 
child to malaria but has since been trained by NetsForLife as a community  
malaria leader. Describing people like Malita as the "hands and feet" of  
NetsForLife, Lassen concluded her testimony by telling lawmakers that "If she  was 
here today, Malita would say: 'God is good all the time. All the time God is  
good.'"



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