CIDA and Red Cross Campaign Agaist Malaria Funding Announcement, Canadian Red Cross Secretary-General Pierre Duplessis
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 – Ottawa, Charles H. Hulse Public School
Madame la Ministre, un très grand merci pour la générosité de l’Agence canadienne de développement international, pour la générosité du Canada. 20 millions de dollars pour la campagne de la Croix-Rouge canadienne contre la malaria est extraordinaire et nous vous en sommes reconnaissants. Cette journée demeurera mémorable pour l’Afrique, pour le Canada et pour nous tous.
Yes indeed, thank you Minister Verner, for this incredibly generous contribution.
Also our thanks to the Charles H. Hulse Public School, Principal Pino Buffone and to all of you, teachers and young friends students supporters of the Canadian Red Cross for the kindness you have shown for people living around the world and for allowing us to be your guests today.
May I remind this audience that you have helped Canadian Red Cross raise money for the people affected by many disasters, such as Hurricane Mitch, Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Pakistan and the Tsunami. For this, we are also grateful.
Most of us here today will thankfully never know what it’s like to be sick from malaria. We’re lucky to live in a country like Canada, where we don’t have to worry about getting infected by a mosquito with this disease. But it is a reality every day for millions of people around the world.
In more than 100 countries, malaria is a very serious health problem and especially in Africa. Since this disease makes children more vulnerable to other sicknesses, the need to fight malaria becomes even more important.
Cela dit, je ne veux pas vous sembler pessimiste ce matin car bien au contraire, mon message est celui de l’espoir et de l’optimisme. Pourquoi? Parce que la malaria est évitable. Une façon de se défendre contre cette maladie est d’éviter les piqûres de moustiques infectés. Et curieusement bien que la malaria soit une maladie facile à prévenir, elle demeure l’une des principales causes de mortalité en Afrique.
L’une des façons les plus efficaces et économiques permettant de réduire l’incidence de la malaria est l’utilisation de moustiquaires de lit traitées aux insecticides. Et il n’en coûte par moustiquaire que 7 $! On estime que l’utilisation de moustiquaires de lit, comme celles que vous voyez aujourd’hui, permet de réduire de près de moitié le nombre de cas de malaria.
This is a very exciting day for Canadian Red Cross, as this money from CIDA will allow us to provide more than two million free mosquito nets over the next two years in Madagascar and Burkina Faso, protecting the lives of millions of children while they sleep.
Today’s funding of $20-million dollars builds on the success in Africa over the past three years with CIDA. Together we have successfully distributed more than 2.5 million free mosquito-nets to thousands of families in six African countries: Togo, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger and Sierra Leone. Some of you here today may even be from these countries. These nets have protected millions of children and saved tens of thousands of lives.
La Campagne de lutte contre la malaria de la Croix-Rouge canadienne est unique, car dans chaque pays où nous travaillons, des milliers de bénévoles des Sociétés nationales de la Croix-Rouge contribuent aux efforts.
Our latest campaign was this past November in Sierra Leone, coordinated with their Ministry of Health. More than 4,000 Sierra Leone Red Cross volunteers worked tirelessly to hand out 875,000 nets at over 900 places throughout the country. They made sure that even families living in the most rural areas received a net.
The Sierra Leone Red Cross volunteers trained families how to use the nets. They also make sure that they properly hung up and that families continue to sleep under them. Our work would be impossible without these dedicated volunteers!
A 26-year-old mother in Sierra Leone, Aminasa Bah, received two nets for her infant twin daughters from Canadian Red Cross. She told us: “Thank you Canada for protecting my family from malaria, and offering them a chance to survive and grow”. There are thousands of stories of families, just like Aminasa’s that show Canada’s generosity.
Les Canadiens et les Canadiennes doivent être fiers de la contribution de l’ACDI ainsi que de l’engagement du Canada à lutter contre une maladie qui tue un enfant toutes les 30 secondes. Sachez toutefois que beaucoup de travail reste à accomplir et que nous pouvons tous participer d’une façon ou d’une autre aux efforts contre la malaria.
Thank you once again to CIDA, the people of Canada and to you. I encourage everyone to GET A NET! Just seven dollars makes sure that a child in Africa can sleep safely under a mosquito net. If we continue to work together and support each other, we will continue to have a positive impact on the lives of the most vulnerable children and their families against this terrible disease.
So let us continue until every child in Africa can wake up healthy and happy.
Thank you.
I would now like to introduce a short eight minute film, which profiles our latest Campaign Against Malaria in Sierra Leone, made possible through the generous contribution of CIDA.
