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Contact Islamic
Relief Malaysia
Buy a
Net
Each mosquito net costs RM 10.00 (approximately £2.50 or 4 Euros) and can
help protect a woman or child from malaria and Rift Valley
Fever.
Kenya Mosquito Net Appeal
Distibution Area |
Mandera district of North
Eastern province
|
Total distribution |
27,000 nets |
Targeted Population |
52,000 children and pregnant or
nursing mothers |
The mosquito nets have been treated
with a long-lasting insecticide which works for up to 5 years.
About Mandera, Kenya
Mandera is a desert region in the
north-east of Kenya. Most of the population is nomadic pastoralists
who depend on their livestock for survival. Decades of drought have
affected both livestock and crops. Malnutrition rates are high, and
outbreaks of malaria, diarrhea and measles are especially dangerous
for children.
In 2002, around 15,000 Somalis fled civil conflict
in south-west Somalia, across the border into Mandera. Refugee
children can be seen on the streets begging, scavenging for food and
desperately seeking work to support their families |
KENYA MOSQUITO NET APPEAL
Deadly Fever Hits
Kenya
An outbreak of Rift Valley Fever
in Kenya has killed over 150 people so far, and infected more than
400.
Rift Valley Fever (RVF) is a highly contagious
virus which affects livestock, but can spread to people via
mosquitoes or contact with infected animals.
Fever victims can suffer liver failure, bleed from
the nose and mouth, and may bleed to death. Hundreds of people died
during a previous outbreak, ten years ago.
Mosquito Nets
Recent flooding has left stagnant pools of water,
providing ideal breeding grounds for the mosquitoes which spread RVF
and malaria. The insects have bred rapidly, spreading the deadly
virus as they bite. “Mosquito nets are urgently needed to safeguard
women and children from the deadly fever and protect them from
malaria for years to come,” said Makki Hamid, Islamic Relief’s Head
of Africa Programmes.
“We plan to provide mosquito nets to protect 27,000
children and pregnant or nursing mothers”.
Each net costs just RM 10.00 (around £2.50 or 4
Euros) and can help protect a woman or child from Rift Valley Fever
and malaria.
Floods
The North
Eastern and Coast provinces are worst-hit by the virus. The North
Eastern province is still reeling from the devastating effects of a
drought, followed by severe flooding.
The drought killed off 70% of the livestock herds
on which the pastoralist population depend for their livelihoods.
This in turn has resulted in food shortages, poverty and alarming
rates of malnutrition.
Young children and pregnant women, already weakened
by malnutrition, are at particular risk of infection from RVF virus
and other diseases. |
