Ecobank has partnered with Ogra Foundation, an NGO in Nyanza, to distribute and spray mosquito nets in Kisii and Kisumu counties. Ogra Foundation Executive Director Gabriel Amollo said they will also distribute insecticide-treated long-lasting mosquito nets to 1,500 households in Kisumu and Kisii Counties. Amollo said mosquito repellent air conditioners will be donated to 3 hospitals in Kisumu County and will be installed in children and maternity wards. The director said that according to recent research, pregnant women and children are at a higher risk of contracting malaria due to insufficient or compromised immunity. “In areas with high transmission, the most vulnerable groups are young children, who have not developed immunity to malaria yet, and pregnant women whose immunity has been decreased by pregnancy,” he explained. Speaking to the press in Kisumu ahead of Ecobank Day to be celebrated on 8th November at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Amollo said Ecobank Day is part of Corporate Social Responsibility for the bank. He said the theme for 2014 project is “Malaria prevention and control in Sub-Saharan Africa” with the rallying call STOP MALARIA NOW. “The choice of the theme stems from the fact that, Africa bears 90 percent of the world’s burden of malaria,” he said. Kisumu County Governor Jack Ranguma is expected to unveil the programme on that day.

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