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Title: MSS Spreads The Net
Location:
Categories: Health & Wellness
Environment & Urbanization
Status:
In Planning
Timeline:
February 23 08 to February 23 08
Description:
Moira Secondary's School third party fundraising for the Spread the Net campaign.
Our fundraising method? An organized soccer tournament!
Background:
Mosquitoes may simply be an itchy nuisance to us, but in other countries, mosquitoes are known as being deadly carriers of many diseases that are responsible for over one million deaths per year. One parasite in particular, called Plasmodium, causes Malaria, a disease of the blood. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa are particularly hard hit, where 90% of the people that contract the disease, will die from it.
When one contracts Malaria, the symptoms will appear approximately 9 to 14 days after the initial infected bite. Symptoms would be similar to that of a really bad flu –fever, headache, vomiting, and extreme weakness. In certain countries, such as the ones in question, drugs are not accessible or it may occur that the parasites would be resistant to them. The impact of the infection could then become quite severe, leading to comas, lifelong brain damage, paralysis, and even death. The parasite that causes the disease take over the body: they infect and destroy red blood cells and clog the capillaries that carry blood to the brain and other vital organs.
• Statistical evidence states that every 30 seconds, one child will die of malaria.
• Children in particular are vulnerable to severe illness and death associated with malaria, as they have small bodies and underdeveloped immune systems.
• Malaria is the single biggest killer of African children under the age of five and accounts for one in five of all childhood deaths in Africa.
• In pregnant women, malaria can lead to low birth weight, anemia, and a greater risk of death to their newborn babies.
Now, more specifically, malaria-carrying mosquitoes usually strike at night, typically between 10pm and 4am. Sleeping under an insecticide-treated bed net has been shown to reduce malaria transmission by at least 50% and the mortality of children under five up to 25%,
Objectives:
To raise 250$ (and therefore supply 250 nets) for the Spread the Net campaign while getting the community involved and aware about the issue.
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