5000 Anti-Malaria Bednets Donated

The villagers of the Keroka area face many health issues, the most troubling of which is malaria. Malaria is caused by a parasite which moves rapidly via mosquitos through a community. It can be particularly bad in the rainy season and when it strikes, many people in a village can be infected. This reduces the ability of people to take care of themselves and their animals and farms. Every year a few people in each village will die from malaria.

Mosquito bednet demonstration

The sad thing is that it costs only a few dollars for treatment or prevention, but even this is beyond the means of most villagers. The main project of the WHO club on its 2007 visit to Keroka was to help reduce the incidence of malaria in the villages. Money was raised by the club, and with the help of a very generous grant from ExxonMobil, over 5000 four-year chemically-treated mosquito bednets were purchased and delivered to Keroka.

Bednet assembly

The club presented a training program on bednet use and care to over 1000 villagers and set up a program to deliver the bednets to the most needy families. The gratifying result is that Nurse Beatrice Nyanduko of the Nyanchonori village, where good records were kept, reported to us that the incidence of malaria fell from 3003 cases in 2007, to 2009 cases in 2008 and to 1024 cases in 2009, a remarkable 66% decrease in two years.

Happy bednet customers

Bednets supplied by the Government of Kenya are now available free at the community’s healthcare centers for children and pregnant women and at a subsidized rate for others.