Success Stories

Malaria kills a child in the world every 30 seconds. It infects 350-500 million people each year killing 1 million, mostly children, in Africa. Ninety percent of malaria deaths occur in Africa, where malaria accounts for about one in five of all childhood deaths. The disease also contributes greatly to anemia among children - a major cause of poor growth and development. In Mozambique, more children die of malaria than any other disease. It accounts for 60 percent of pediatric hospital admissions and 30 percent of hospital deaths, and it is a major reason why Mozambique still has one of the world's highest child mortality rates. Malaria is also deadly for pregnant women, who run the risk of severe anemia, which can be fatal. To prevent the spread of malaria, the government distributes free-of-charge insecticide-treated nets (ITN) to all pregnant women and to children under the age of five in many of the provinces. The bed nets are an effective and cheap method of fighting malaria by preventing mosquito bites (which transmit the disease) and killing the mosquitoes. According to WHO, bed nets can cut malaria transmission by at least 60 percent and child deaths by a fifth if the nets are used properly. Since 2000, some 1.7 million bed nets have been distributed through the public health system in Mozambique. Two-thirds of those nets have been delivered via UNICEF-supported programmes in about 60 percent of the country's districts.

In Ecuador, UNDP has partnered with UNAIDS and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation to help the central Government develop a new, more far-reaching National Strategic HIV/AIDS Plan, launched in 2007. Preparing the plan brought together representatives from many quarters, including the prison system, the National Children's Council, universities and businesses. Grounded in analysis that recognizes the epidemic is more than a health concern, the plan elaborates new actions on multiple fronts, from general prevention to specific interventions targeted to high-risk groups. Parallel work with UNIFEM has used the training of government officials and members of civil society to raise the profile of gender-related vulnerability to AIDS, given the sharp increase in prevalence rates among low-risk heterosexual women. UNDP has also helped Ecuador's major municipalities-Quito and Guayaquil-create the first municipal AIDS policies, which led to the establishment of testing and counseling services. Work has begun to extend similar strategies to 39 local and three provincial governments covering half of Ecuador's population.

Last updated 1 November 2007