We work with an inspiring and varied range of people in our bid to end deaths from malaria in Africa. Last month we heard the story of Abimbola Junaid – a global campaigner on educational and health issues, including malaria. Abi does hugely important work on malaria education in her local community in Greenwich. Many in the area travel overseas, often to visit friends and family in areas affected by malaria, usually Africa. Abi is passionate about making sure people do not underestimate the dangers of catching malaria overseas and the importance of being protected before they travel.

Just last week, the House of Lords held an event in support of Live Below the Line  an exciting campaign to fight extreme poverty. It  challenges the British public to get sponsored to live on a budget of £1 a day for all food and drink for five days from 7-11 May. This gives a glimpse into the lives of 1.4 billion people who live on this budget everyday for everything while raising money for international development charities including Malaria No More UK.

By Sarah Kline

Earlier this week I joined malaria experts from across the world to discuss the latest tools to tackle malaria – from drugs and insecticides to new tests and vaccines – and how they can be best used.

Some of the figures shared were staggering – malaria costs Nigeria $850 million a year and Uganda $600-800 million. Yet both countries are seeing progress compared to 10 years ago.

Hot off the red carpet as a double BRIT award nominee, Soul singer Aloe Blacc is flying to Ghana this morning to learn about our work supporting the country’s historic goal to make sure everyone has access to a mosquito net by the end of 2012.

Aloe will spend the next four days in Ghana, with a film crew and our team members Arabella, Annemarie and Angela. Ghana’s entire population is at risk from malaria and he’ll be seeing firsthand the impact of this devastating disease which remains a leading killer of children and a major contributor to ongoing poverty in the country as it stops people from working and providing for their families.

Two volunteers with equipment ready to undertake net hang up

Exciting news, we have just completed purchase of enough supplies to hang 2.5 million long lasting insecticide treated nets in Ghana’s Ashanti Region. These supplies will be put to good use hanging nets supported by The Global Fund and the President’s Malaria Initiative through a campaign starting at the end of February aiming to cover around five million people – the entire population of the region.

Over 8,500 long lasting insecticide treated nets and accompanying education have now been distributed to some of Namibia’s most vulnerable people living in remote areas in the rural north.

Thanks to support from Malaria No More UK and using nets from the Global Fund donated through the Ministry of Health, trained community based Malaria Agents have been able to deliver these life saving nets direct to people’s homes. This distribution has been achieved in the face of significant challenges including severe flooding last year.

By Annemarie Meyer, Programme and Policy Manager

I have spent last week with malaria experts from around the world discussing the significant progress that has been made as well as some of the challenges ahead in using mosquito nets for malaria prevention. The Alliance for Malaria Prevention meeting is a great forum to discuss and share learning and new research about how to get protective nets out to and used by everyone at risk from malaria.

Sarah Kline accepting a cheque from Andy Ransom at the Rentokil Pest Control Division Conference

By Sarah Kline

In January I joined our friends at Rentokil Pest Control Division to launch a new partnership together to raise funds and awareness to tackle malaria.

We were thrilled when Rentokil approached us. It feels like a very natural fit to be working together. Rentokil Pest Control are just as focussed on getting rid of unwanted pests as we are – including mosquitoes carrying malaria.

Today the Wellcome Trust has released a study showing malaria infection reduces early fetal growth. The impact of malaria on young children is well known, but this study confirms just how much malaria affects the development of babies in pregnancy.

The World Malaria Report 2011 estimated malaria killed 655 000 people in 2010. Pregnant women and children under 5 are known to be particularly vulnerable to malaria.

Today The Lancet has published a study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) in Seattle which uses a new model to estimate global malaria deaths.

The study estimates over 1.2 million lives were lost to malaria in 2010, almost twice the estimates used by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its most recent malaria report. Whilst both approaches maintain that the majority of lives lost to malaria are in Africa – which bears 91% of all deaths – and amongst young children. The difference in the IHME’s data is the assumption that higher numbers of older children and adults in heavy-burden malaria areas are dying from the disease.