Burundi
37% of the total population of Burundi has been affected by malaria.
With your help, Nets for Life® is working to train clergy, lay church leaders, medical personnel and grassroots mobilizers to prevent malaria.
Progress Indicators
- Nets distributed to date: 292,869
- Community members reached: 158,142
- Community volunteers trained: 868
- Nets to be distributed in 2011: 42,500
- Population:
- 8.1 million
- Reported malaria cases:
- 2,271,000
- Cases among children under 5:
- 5,400
- Reported Deaths:
- 7,700
Burundi’s decade-long civil war and genocide (1993-2003) killed 200,000 people, displaced hundreds of thousands from their homes and caused a 20% reduction in the country’s gross national product.
The United Nations Human Development Index ranks Burundi 174 out of 179 countries in the world because of its severe economic struggles.
Malaria in Burundi
The war also contributed to the spread of malaria from the lowlands, where it was endemic, to the highlands, where communities historically had no exposure and therefore little immunity.
In 2000-2001, a 36-week malaria epidemic in the highlands resulted in a record 3.5 million cases
NetsforLife® Implementing Partner
The Eglise Anglicane du Burundi consists of six dioceses and 200 parishes across the country. Burundi’s 425,000 Anglican congregants are served by 250 clergy.
The church’s major concerns include peace and reconciliation, repatriation of refugees and displaced people, community development, literacy and education, HIV/AIDS and malaria.
Areas Impacted
- NetsforLife® has prioritized program implementation in the following communities in the northern regions of the country—the highlands—where drought and food shortages have contributed to the increase of malaria in the area. NetsforLife® is working in Ngozi/Buye, Muyinga and Makamba
- Trainings have been held in each of the targeted dioceses. Participants included clergy, lay church leaders, medical personnel and grassroots organizers.