Marquette's chapter of Americans for an Informed Democracy hosted a videoconference Thursday with professors and students from Ghana, Ecuador, Burkina Faso and various sites around the United States to discuss how to treat and end malaria outbreaks around the world.
Students and professors gathered at the various sites and were allowed to speak about the effects of the disease in their country to participants in the United States. The students in U.S. could ask questions in order to understand the current state of malaria in those countries and how it could be prevented.
Representatives from the South American country of Ecuador discussed the need for education about malaria as the best form of prevention. There have been national malaria education programs implemented in that country, but there is little continuity from location to location.
"We need to grab the problem by its roots," they said. "We need to educate, but we need resources."
Participants at the Burkina Faso site in West Africa agreed, but said it was difficult to communicate and educate throughout the country. The country's rural areas have the highest infection rate, but these areas also have high illiteracy rates and it is difficult even to communicate through radio broadcasts.
"The main means of communication is radio, but it doesn't cover all of the country and not all can afford it," they said. "The level of education is low. Only 20 percent of adults are (literate enough) to go through a newspaper."
They also said the mosquito bed nets have been found to be highly effective around Burkina Faso. However, the costs are out of range of most citizens. It is increasingly worse for larger families who may need to purchase more than one net.
Seth Green, president and founder of AID, the nonpartisan organization that seeks global awareness of college campuses, hosted the discussion at Yale University with Scott Case, chief operating officer of Malaria No More.
Case said the purpose of Malaria No More is to inform Americans about the tremendous amount of people this disease affects every day. With the current technology and information known about the disease, it only takes $10 to purchase a bed net for a child or family that needs one, he said.
"We like to think of each of these people as hundreds of thousands of $10 causes," he said. "Those of us in developed countries could easily scrape up $10 if we really tried."
Malaria No More was launched as part of the White House Summit on Malaria in December, according to Case. It was inspired because of the lack of awareness about malaria in the United States. It currently has a three-year goal of $1 billion.
Daniel Hussar, professor at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, said malaria is different than other diseases because there are known steps to prevent it, including the bed nets and specific medication to treat the disease.
"These medications are wildly available and inexpensive here," Hussar said. "However, what is inexpensive here may be out of reach for individuals in these countries."
Malaria No More has established Malaria Awareness Day in the United States on April 25, which coincides with the African Awareness Day.