Standard Chartered Bank in partnership with Coca Cola and Church of Uganda’s Planning, Development and Rehabilitation (PDR) have donated 500 insecticide treated mosquito nets to Jinja Regional Referral Hospital and communities in Luuka District, This brings the total of nets distributed to communities across the country under the NetsforLife program since October 2006 to 230,000.

This was revealed at the handover ceremony at the Hospital. The donation is part of a series of activities lined up for the Malaria Month of April. World Malaria Day is celebrated annually on 25 April 2011. The national celebrations will be held on 29 April 2011 in Buliisa District.

Speaking at the Ceremony, Mr Okia Michael from the Ministry of Health who represented the Minister of Health applauded the partnership for this noble gesture for the community, which he said, will benefit the most vulnerable section of the society.

“We are here today to witness the handover of mosquito nets that will help prevent spread of malaria and in the long run improve the quality of life of pregnant women, children below 5 years and people living with HIV/AIDS” , Okia said.

“We in government wish to thank Standard Chartered, Coca Cola and Church of Uganda for this noble gesture as a way of supplementing government programmes. They have gone beyond their normal lines of duty to give back to the community. That is why I must take this opportunity on behalf of Government to thank the NetsforLife partnership for the offer of these important mosquito nets that will benefit many of our people and also invite other companies to emulate this gesture. Uganda has the 3rd highest incidences of malaria in the world after Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo. Controlling malaria calls for concerted efforts of everyone," he added.

Commenting on the reason for donating the nets, Mr. Herbert Zake, Head of Corporate Affairs Standard Chartered said, “Every 30 seconds an African child dies of this disease, 90% of deaths from malaria occur in Africa and currently there are no vaccines for malaria and none are expected in the foreseeable future. Uganda has a high incidence of Malaria which affects especially pregnant women, children below 5 years and people living with HIV/AIDS. These mosquito nets will basically benefit the most vulnerable people in our society and help reduce the deaths resulting from Malaria. This is an annual investment of USD 1m by Standard Chartered from 2006 to 2013 to provide nets across 16 African countries.”

Zake emphasised the need for more public-private partnerships which are currently at the top of many international agendas in public health. When markets face challenges to distribute health benefits to people who need them - especially to poor people in developing countries - partnerships between public and private organizations are often seen as offering an innovative method with a good chance of producing the desired outcomes.