Waterloo, ON – As US President George W. Bush witnessed the progress in the battle against malaria in Tanzania yesterday during his current African trip, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) – a key player in the fight – celebrated the distribution of its three millionth anti-malaria net/voucher in the country.

That celebration will be brought to North American soil next week with a visit by two Tanzanian officials from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare – Dr. Donan Mmbando, Director of Preventative Services, and Dr. Alex Mwita, Program Manager for the National Malaria Control Program. They will be accompanied by MEDA's management team for the project, country manager Tim Piper and program manager Faith Patrick. MEDA will mark the occasion by cutting a cake in the image of a program voucher.

MEDA is the Tanzanian government's logistics manager for Hati Punguzo, an initiative that promotes a unique public-private partnership that provides Tanzanians with subsidized vouchers to purchase insecticide-treat mosquito bed nets (ITNs) at very low cost. Through the initiative, MEDA has helped to create a network of more than 6,500 retail outlets nationwide, where previously the life-saving nets were not available.

During a stop in the town of Arusha, Bush visited the Meru District Hospital – where pregnant women at the clinic receive the vouchers to obtain an ITN. The president also toured the net-making factory of A to Z Textile Mills, the only manufacturer in Africa to produce the life-saving, long-lasting insecticide net, which MEDA distributes through Hati Punguzo.

So far the impact of the project is staggering. Research suggests that six lives are being spared for every 1,000 nets sold. In addition to the lives saved, ITNs prevent serious illness that would devastate families – wages would be lost and costly treatment would be needed.

President Bush launched the five-year, $1.2 billion President's Malaria Initiative in 2005. The program aims to cut malaria-related deaths by half in 15 African countries.

View MEDA's video on YouTube