Children living in a group of villages in Kampot will no longer face the deadly threat of malaria thanks to a program by the German agency GTZ.
The organization is providing anti-malaria supplies in parts of the country hardest-hit by the mosquito-borne disease.
The Kampot area was selected for mosquito nets after a health survey showed malaria was seriously affecting the area—especially the district’s children, said Martina Bergschneider, GTZ team leader in Kampot.
The GTZ survey showed that the malaria rate among children under 5 ranged from 7 percent to 14 percent in villages around Kampot’s Chumkiri district.
The agency will buy mosquito nets to provide total coverage for 15 villages in the district.
GTZ is the German government’s agency for foreign-aid projects in Cambodia. The mosquito net program is part of a larger project to improve health and nutrition in Kampot villages.
Malaria cases in Kampot more than doubled between 1996 and 1997, according to an annual report from the National Malaria Center.
The 105 percent increase was one of the largest of any province in the country.
Malaria is one of the country’s biggest killers. Last year, 170,000 people contracted malaria and more than 800 died from the disease.
Mosquito nets treated with pesticides that are non-toxic to humans have been shown to dramatically cut malaria rates.
The Cambodia Daily’s Mosquito Net Campaign began last year as a one-year drive for money to buy mosquito nets for Cambodians in malarial areas.
Your contribution can help fight the disease in these predominantly poor and rural regions of the country. Just $5 can save three lives.
