Mission Yearbook: Malaria vaccine advocacy, a spiritual discipline to help save lives

2024 Malaria Vaccine Introduction/ Cote d’Ivoire Credit:   
Gavi/2024/Miléquêm Diarassouba

April 25 has been instituted by the World Health Organization as World Malaria Day. Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes. Worldwide, malaria kills over 600,000 people every year, with vast the majority of deaths occurring in Africa and four out of five victims being children under 5.

Presbyterians in the U.S. have long been committed to the prevention and treatment of malaria through their collaboration with PC(USA)’s international health and development ministries and by supporting health clinics and medical programs run by global partners. Presbyterian Women circles have come alongside by sewing insecticide-treated mosquito nets to keep newborns and their mothers safe from malaria infection and terminate its carriers.

2024 / Malaria Vaccination in SOA District Hospital, Cameroon Credit:
Gavi/2024/Go'tham Industry

In October 2021, the global fight against malaria was boosted by the WHO's approval of the first malaria vaccine recommended for broad use in children. This coincided with the discernment by PC(USA)-affiliated mission networks engaged with church partners across Africa how they could use the virtual platform established during the Covid pandemic to coordinate their efforts for a common cause. Advocacy surfaced as a shared ministry need, first to discover advocacy as a spiritual practice, followed by the case study of a successful Presbyterian advocacy campaign and the identification of malaria as a common partner concern to put advocacy into practice.

In consultation with global partners across Africa, the thus established Presbyterian Malaria Vaccine Advocacy Team decided it is time for PC(USA) congregations and staff to engage in advocacy for continued bipartisan legislative support of vaccine distribution in low-income countries through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance as a cost-effective way to combat preventable child and maternal deaths. Resourced by the Office of Public Witness and the Presbyterian Ministries at the United Nations, the team organized a first letter writing campaign by circulating an Action Alert, which inspired some congregations to organize their own virtual educational event. To continue building momentum with a larger community of Presbyterian advocates to achieve a critical mass, the core team has been organizing a webinar which will be held today in observance of World Malaria Day.

Malaria Vaccine Credit: Gavi/2024/Miléquêm Diarassouba

This free online event will take place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (EDT) and is open to all who wish to join and learn how to protect those vulnerable to malaria infection through U.S. legislation. Interested participants can register at                                                                                                      worldmalariadaywebinar.eventbrite.com

For more information contact PMVAT at info@pmvat.org. 

Resources:

• Recording of the conversation between Rt. Rev. Lydia Neshwange, Moderator for the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) and current president of the All-Africa Conference of Churches, and the Rev, Jimmy Hawkins, director of (PCUSA) Advocacy Ministries
• Recording of the webinar with successful case study
• Presbyterian News Service article about the Malaria Vaccine Advocacy webinar
• Presbyterian News Service article on the Call to Action for malaria vaccine support

Christi Boyd, Facilitator for Women and Children’s Interests, DR Congo, Madagascar, Niger, Rwanda, South Sudan, Interim Unified Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

• Sangik Lee, Translator, Global Language Resources, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
• Unzu Lee, Regional Liaison for East Asia, World Mission, Interim Unified Agency 

Let us pray:

God who created humankind for wholeness, we pray for families distressed by malaria, for public health and medical care providers to prevent and treat malaria, and for advocacy champions who network to make vaccines accessible and decision-makers who hold power towards a malaria-free world.