Mission against malaria

Health commission competition joins bracketology with disease prevention

For Jessica Kraft, fighting the spread of malaria across the world has become a very personal mission. Not only has she seen firsthand the devastation it causes in under-developed countries, but she also battled it herself.

Kraft, 27, now works in the Boston Public Health Commission’s Infectious Disease Bureau, but from 2001 to 2003, she lived in Mozambique as a health educator in the Peace Corps. There, she watched countless children suffering with the disease while  trying to carry out normal day-to-day activities like growing food.

There are at least one million malaria-related deaths a year worldwide and at least 300 million cases — 90 percent of which are in Africa, she said.
“I’ve seen the impact it can have on society. It’s real,” said Kraft.
Since returning to America, Kraft has been focused on malaria education and prevention efforts, including being part of an international competition called “Madness Against Malaria” the last two years. The annual event, which corresponds with the NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament, showcases teams from around the globe, facing off to raise money to combat malaria. Teams are put into a bracket format, and each round’s top fundraisers keep moving on until a champion is crowned.

All the money goes toward buying insecticide-treated bed nets used to cover people from mosquitoes at night, which is how malaria is commonly spread. In 2007 and 2008, Kraft’s team won the tournament, and she hopes to three-peat this year.
“We have a title to defend, so it’s definitely keeping people motivated,” she said. 

Visit www.madnessagainstmalaria.com for more information.