Fwd: How to reduce mosquito-born illnesses

[Guest guest]

Since all of these lists have recently had discussions

on Malaria bearing Mosquitos i am forwarding this:

 

It could be argued that the mosquito is the most

dangerous creature on Earth. Recent cases of

mosquito-spread Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) have

Americans worried. And while cases of the illness are

on the rise in the US, mosquito-borne illnesses are

even more devastating in developing countries like

Malawi, Africa, where people regularly die from them.

 

Join Brad Pitt in learning more about the mosquito's

impact on health worldwide in a new PBS special called

Rx for Survival - A Global Health Challenge.™ As the

narrator, Mr. Pitt provides important information

about world health and offers tips you can use in your

daily life to stay healthy. Rx for Survival shows how

global health affects each one of us, and what

individuals can do to make a difference.

Watch a preview of the program here.

Sign up for broadcast updates and more information

here.

 

" It's heartbreaking to see avoidable illness take away

lives. I'm pleased to narrate Rx for Survival and

help tell the stories of people like us, different

only because of where they were born, " said Brad Pitt

on a trip to Africa this past spring.

 

What can you do to protect yourself from mosquito

viruses? Wear long sleeves and pants, apply bug

repellant, repair screens in your home to keep

mosquitoes out, and drain standing water from around

living spaces.

 

Rx for Survival also highlights the successes in

treating the mosquito viruses in developing countries.

Did you know that young children in remote regions of

Africa often perish because the signs and symptoms of

malarial fever go untreated until it is too late? When

the nearest health clinic is half a day's walk away,

it's even harder to get treatment. But where there are

programs to educate parents and provide free

anti-malarial medications, deaths of children under

five were reduced by 40% in Ethiopia and 53% in

Burkina Faso. And mosquito netting treated with

insectide placed over sleeping areas is a powerful

intervention to prevent malaria, since mosquitoes

generally come out to feed at night. One study showed

that 90% of the deadliest malaria could be prevented

with such bed netting.

 

Sign up for broadcast updates and more information

here.

 

Have a great day,

 

Hilary S.

Care2 and ThePetitionSite.com

 

PS. The mosquito's impact on health worldwide is

explored in the series' fourth program, Deadly

Messengers (airing November 2 at 10 p.m. on PBS– check

local listings).

 

 

http://www.care2.com/newsletters

 

I am only one; but still I am one.

I cannot do everything, but still I can do something;

I will not refuse to do the something I can do.

- Helen Keller

 

 

 

 

Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005