In the next minute, while you are reading this article, two children somewhere in the world will die of malaria. By the end of the day, malaria will have claimed the lives of 3,000 children.

Most of malaria's victims live in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, malaria kills more children under five years old in Africa each year than any other disease.

Every April 25th since 1998, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank work to raise awareness about malaria through Africa Malaria Day. The day is an opportunity to bring together governments of countries affected by malaria along with aid organizations, to help coordinate a global response to the disease.

This year, the slogan for Africa Malaria Day is, "Free Africa from Malaria NOW!", a slogan that recognizes the urgency of the disease that the Roll Back Malaria program says is holding back the development of an entire continent.

Spread by mosquitoes, there is no vaccine to prevent malaria. But infection is easily preventable with something as simple as an insecticide-treated bed-net wrapped around a bed to prevent mosquito bites.

But for the thousands of people at risk, the nets are far too expensive.

The Canadian Red Cross has been trying to help through its Campaign Against Malaria. The Campaign has already delivered more than 2.5 million free mosquito nets to six countries in Africa over the last few years.

This year, Canadian Red Cross plans to distribute almost as many nets to Burkina Faso alone - the CRC's biggest bed-net program ever. Another 600,000 bed nets will be distributed in the island nation of Madagascar.

As well, UNICEF Canada is leading an initiative called Spread the Net. The program's goal is to raise $5 million over three years for UNICEF to purchase and distribute 500,000 insecticide-treated bednets to families in Rwanda and Liberia.

The cost of purchasing a net, distributing it to families and training them to use it properly is only Cdn $7 -- making the nets one of the most cost-effective disease prevention tools available.

The long-lasting, insecticide-treated nets will be distributed free of charge by thousands of volunteers as part of an integrated child health strategy in Africa.

Since malaria-infected mosquitoes feed between dusk and dawn, a properly used insecticidal net can cut the risk of infection by about 50 per cent, estimates the Roll Back Malaria program. The bed net program alone will therefore save tens of thousands of lives in Africa, most of them children

Last fall, the Canadian Red Cross completed its largest bed-net campaign to date, distributing nearly 875,000 nets through 900 distribution points across Sierra Leone. With the involvement of 4,000 trained Sierra Leone Red Cross volunteers, some 90 per cent of all Sierra Leonean children under five years of age were reached.

While it was the nets that drew families from all over to the distribution centres, the campaign was also able to provide measles vaccinations, Vitamin A supplementation and de-worming treatments.

It is expected the Sierra Leone program will save the lives of 5,000 children under the age of five in the first year alone.

The Canadian Red Cross was recently able to expand its malaria program through a commitment from the federal government of $20 million. The funding builds upon the Canadian International Development Agency's previous contribution of $26 million to the Canadian Red Cross to support similar malaria programs in Africa.

If you wish to contribute to the Malaria Bed Net Campaign of the Canadian Red Cross, you can donate at RedCross.ca or by calling 1-800-418-1111.

If you wish to contribute to the Spread the Net campaign, you can donate at Unicef Canada or by calling at 1 800 567 4483.

Malaria Facts

Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes and is found throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world.

Malaria kills more than one million people every year and causes more than 500 million serious illnesses each year

90 per cent of deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.

In Africa, malaria is the number one killer of children under five years of age.

Malaria is also a major cause of perinatal mortality, low birth weight and maternal anaemia.

40 per cent of total health expenditures in Africa are related to malaria.

Malaria costs Africa $US12 billion per year in lost GDP.

One child dies every 30 seconds, equivalent to seven Boeing 747 airplanes crashing every day.