Patrick Sampao's blog

"If you walk over a paddle of water barefoot, the malaria virus and bacteria will get in through the soles of your feet and spread to the rest of the body

For most part my colleagues Stella, Kabogo and I are often holed up in Malaria World, Nairobi office digging through hundreds of journals to pick out anything relevant to the “Malaria World”. Over the past weeks we have held discussions of what really happens out there, how is the war against malaria coming along? Are we loosing or winning?

Late last year, I was told of a newly discovered alternative use for mosquito nets that residents from a locality in Muranga, a district in Central Kenya, have embraced.  My informant called it the green house phenomena. I wanted to see the “green houses” for myself before saying much about them.

After a long stint, I finally managed to go home for a visit last weekend. Its been raining in Nairobi over the last few days so there are puddles of water here and there and my home is no exception. You already know am going to talk about mosquitoes and malaria well yes I am.

Mosquito nets may well be considered as one of the most effective interventions of combating malaria during our time. And true to that there has been a considerable drop in malaria cases where Insecticide Treated Nets have been effectively distributed and used.

This topic has had its fair share of debates in many malaria forums. However it has always remained as a case of the chicken and egg, one thing is however clear about the phenomena, that the two share one thing in common, that both of them thrive within each other.

No war is harder than when you have to face an enemy who gets a chance to regroup and rearm regulary hence coming back with more vigor each time. This is the kind of warfare Kenya has to encounter with malaria. The country is currently facing more than its fair share of problems with malaria.

Three Kenyan DJ’s from a local radio station based in Nairobi joined their Dutch colleagues for a worthy course. The DJ’s took part in the fight against malaria in a charitable campaign dubbed Serious Request.