Malaria is a disease that has ravaged large parts of the continent and this year’s World Malaria Day which is themed on building resilience in fighting the deadly scourge.
Goodbye Malaria and Airport Company South Africa (Acsa) are partnering to accelerate the drive to achieve the theme’s goal.
The approach sees there being more focus on investing in the resilience of healthcare systems to help the Southern Africa region achieve malaria elimination.
A successful example of this approach is Goodbye Malaria and Airports Company South Africa's (Acsa) partnership that began in 2018.
The initiative sees Goodbye Malaria and Acsa provide funding and retail space at no cost as they continue to employ youth who sell hand crafted, locally made causal merchandise at kiosks located at OR Tambo International Airport, Cape Town International Airport, and George Airport.
The funds that will be raised are directed to the malaria elimination programmes in South Africa and Eswatini.
A total of 63 jobs have already been created in the surrounding communities of OR Tambo International Airport, George Airport as well as Cape Town International Airport.
Co-Founder of Goodbye Malaria Sherwin Charles was founded on the belief that African creativity can help eradicate one of the continent’s biggest killers.
“However, through our airport kiosk initiative, we realised that we can also help upskill our youth and create employment opportunities,” says Charles.
Charles said that malaria knows no borders, so this multi-layered approach to tackling these socio-economic issues, which incorporates design and creativity, significantly impacts the communities in which we operate.
“The profits generated were directed towards malaria elimination efforts in Southern Africa, which saw us protect over three million people in Mozambique, South Africa, and Eswatini during this past year,” he said.
Acting Group Communications Manager for Airports Company South Africa Gopolang Peme says that Acsa is proud of the skills development training partnership with Goodbye Malaria.
“It has helped develop young people through retail skills and knowledge development training. The initiative continues to serve its purpose of creating a platform for trainees to develop an understanding of the retail industry, staff management, finance, and business models," said Peme.
What was most important was the teaching of young people on the ins and outs of managing their own business while raising awareness of the malaria crisis and helping to eradicate the disease in the region.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2021 Malaria Report shows how the disease is a significant health concern for the African region, which accounted for 95% of all global malaria cases (228 million) and 96% of all malaria deaths (602 000) in 2020. Tragically, 80% of annual malaria deaths are among African children under 5, with a child dying from this disease every minute.