“Time for singing and having fun is over for me. My duty now is to sensitize people. Proof of my commitment is that I do this without getting a cent. I am doing this with my whole heart and I think it is what God wants me to do.” Yvonne Chaka Chaka, a South African singer said in Malawi at the launch of a programme to distribute over one million treated mosquito nets and to sensitize people on the importance of using the nets.

Yvonne became UNICEF's goodwill ambassador for East and Southern Africa in March, 2005 after one of her band members died from malaria after performing in Gabon. She made up her mind to fight the disease and has travelled across the globe on the mission.

She says the campaign needs everybody's support to win the malaria battle and expressed disappointment that more children and women continued to die from malaria, a development she described as “unacceptable"

“I understand that Malawi is one of the few countries in Africa that are on course to achieve the MDGs or reducing child deaths. This is commendable because it takes political will to make the required financial and human resource investments in children,” she said at the press conference in the commercial city of Blantyre, which was jointly addressed by Malawi's Health Minister, Khumbo Kachali

The Health Minister noted that his country leads the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region in Malaria related deaths with 7,000 reported cases in 2007. Mr. Kachali said about four million cases of malaria were reported from health centres countrywide the same year, meaning malaria was the leading cause of morbidity and mortality.

“Malaria is a disease that can be prevented and cured. If we combine our efforts, we expect to see a reduction in morbidity and mortality from malaria. This joint effort in fighting malaria is in line with this year's World Malaria Day,” he said.

The minister announced plans the distribute mosquito nets to significantly increase the mosquito net coverage in children under the age of five and expectant women.

He said the distribution of the nets combined with the introduction of the new anti-malaria drug, will lead to the reduction in malaria deaths and morbidity due to malaria.

The nets, costing K77 million, were bought with funds from Malaria Global Fund and President George Bush's Malaria Initiative. The official launch of the distribution exercise was at Namiasi school in the remote district of Mangochi.