Kenya: DHL to Give Out 2 Million Mosquito Nets in Kenya

The East African (Nairobi)

October 10, 2006
Posted to the web October 10, 2006

Catherine Riungu, Special Correspondent
Nairobi

DHL has partnered with with the United Nations Children's Fund to distribute two million mosquito nets throughout Kenya.

The project is part of a campaign to combat malaria. Kenya has been selected to be the first country where the nets will be distributed. Other countries will follow beginning with Uganda and Tanzania.

DHL will help the Ministry of Health with the logistics of transporting and distributing the nets. It will also provide financial support and donate equipment for improving routine health services in selected areas.

The company's area commercial manager for Equatorial Africa, Howard Goldfield, said Kenya is one of its biggest markets in Africa and it is also one of Unicef's largest country programmes.

"By providing logistics, know-how and resources through Unicef's direct collaboration with the Ministry of Health, DHL is playing a key role in the effort to improve the efficiency of medical logistics, ensuring that medical resources reach children in need faster, he said.

In the first phase of the project, DHL collaborated with Unicef and the ministry's personnel in co-ordinating the distribution of 2.1 million mosquito nets in July and September this year across 20 districts in Kenya. The nets being distributed in the pilot project have lasting insecticide that kills mosquitoes and that will remain effective for 3 to 5 years.

Marilyn McDonagh of Unicef Kenya said the project seeks to reduce child mortality in the country by two thirds by the year 2015 in line with the MDGs.

With annual revenues of over $33 billion in 2004, DHL is one of the global market leaders in in express, air and ocean freight, overland transport and contract logistic solutions covering 220 countries worldwide. It employs 285,000 people and is owned by Deutsche Post World Net of Germany. The group has been working with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in disaster management since 2005.

According to the DHL management, the company's involvement in the anti-malaria campaign is part of its corporate social responsibility, driven by the need to prevent child mortality, to which malaria is a major contributor.

UNICEF has particularly committed to improving medical care and medical logistics for children worldwide. However, the swift and efficient supply of vital medicines, vaccines and other medical equipment to children in need always constitutes a major logistical challenge. Poor transport infrastructure and lack of logistical expertise often means that urgently-needed aid rarely reaches the children.

The anti-malaria campaign was mooted when there was an outbreak of measles early this year when children were the worst affected. The scare led to one of the largest health campaigns ever undertaken in the region by the Ministry of Health with support from UNICEF.

It was during the fight to tame measles that both institutions planned a major distribution of insecticide treated bed nets to combat Malaria that affects also many children throughout Kenya. The Net Distribution Programme was entrenched into the launch of the New Malaria Treatment Policy and the Scaling up of Malaria Control.

Relevant Links East Africa Malaria Kenya International Organizations and Africa

Deutsche Post World Net is also supporting UNICEF's programme for the long-term improvement of children's healthcare in the Kwale district, Kenya. Working alongside UNICEF, the program will include funding of training for local staff and the equipping of local healthcare facilities with the necessary cold chain equipment so that heat-sensitive vaccines can be properly stored and distributed.

Another important part of DHL's work alongside UNICEF in Kwale is the systematic analysis by DHL experts of the medical logistics systems in the district. Together with UNICEF, DHL will use the results of these analyses and experiences in Kwale to recommend and act to improve the logistics chain.

DHL employees have been called upon to make individual donations by taking part in fund-raising activities or by serving as a volunteer in one of the projects. The first highlight of the fund-raising campaign will be the worldwide Deutsche Post World Net" UNICEF Day" on 9 December 2006.