Scaling Up Malaria Prevention

Due to a serious recession in the 1990s, following the first Gulf war and the return of close to 1 million workers from Saudi Arabia, all malaria vector control activities had been discontinued in Yemen, leading up to an important increase in malaria cases. With a $12 million grant approved in Round 2, Yemen now fights back.

It is time to go to bed in Al-Gabiah, a small remote Yemeni village in the district of Bakil Al-mair, close to the border with Saudi Arabia. Now that Ali Hadi Mekan Ash-Shumali, his wife Aida and their three children are sleeping under insecticide treated mosquito nets (ITNs), they can expect a restful night. They now indeed hardly ever get sick with malaria, a disease which plagues the whole Tihama region where the lowlands account for two-thirds of the country's estimated 1.5 to 3 million clinical cases diagnosed every year.

In early 2006, 150 000 Yemeni families were also protected from malaria after having received ITNs procured with a Global Fund Round 2 malaria grant. After some initial procurement delays, bednet distribution throughout Yemen is now set to reach 1.2 million by the end of 2008 with the aim of covering 60% of pregnant women and children under 5.

Al-Gabiah is part of a large number of scattered mountain villages which are cut from the rest of the country during the rainy season. Insecticide treated nets (ITNs) are the simplest and cheapest way to fight malaria.

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