Sierra Leone Launches Nationwide Malaria Campaign

Photo: AFP Photo: A mother and her child sit on a bed covered with a mosquito net in Africa, 30 Oct 2009

Sierra Leone launches a $23 million anti-malaria campaign Thursday, aiming to get treated mosquito nets into every household in the country.

Nicknamed the "White Man's Grave" in the nineteenth century by British colonials because of the high death rates from malaria, Sierra Leone has a long history with the mosquito-borne disease.

Today malaria is still the country's biggest health concern. It is the leading cause of death and disease and your average Sierra Leonean is likely to suffer three to four bouts of the debilitating disease a year.

Now the country aims to reduce malaria cases by up to 40 percent thanks to a campaign that will see every household in the country receive insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

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