DNA are members of UKWA, the United Kingdom Warehousing Association, Britain’s leading trade organisation for the logistics sector.
UKWA celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2019 by raising a remarkable £75,000 for Transaid thanks to the generosity of UKWA’s members which included DNA. The money will be put towards Transaid’s MAMaZ Against Malaria (MAM) programme which is tackling severe malaria in rural Zambia.
Africa is home to 94% of all malaria deaths. Children under five are the most at-risk group, accounting for 67% of malaria deaths worldwide (according to the WHO World malaria report, Dec 2019). MAM is combatting severe malaria in children under six through a combination of community education and improved access to healthcare through, amongst other things, bicycle ambulances. Its innovative approach has been proven to work: after the pilot recorded a staggering 96% reduction in child mortality from malaria, the programme has been scaled up and is currently reaching 283,000 people across 355 communities. UKWA’s donation allowed MAM to expand into a fifth district in Zambia, meaning the programme is now reaching over five times the number of people in the pilot.
One of these communities is Chief Serenje, home to Josephine, a Community Health Volunteer (CVH) and bicycle ambulance rider who has been working with MAM since its inception in 2017. She says that things have changed dramatically since then:
“The bicycle ambulance is the best thing that has happened to this community. I see people going about their daily lives in my community who otherwise wouldn’t be alive today.”
The fundraising amount was raised through a levy on membership fees from UKWA’s 700+ members. The support will empower even more CHVs like Josephine to fight malaria in their communities.
