NASHVILLE, Tenn., April 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today on World Malaria Day, Imagine No Malaria moved forward with plans to distribute nearly 400,000 life-saving insecticide-treated bed nets in the Bo District of Sierra Leone on June 5, 2014.

Trained volunteers will be distributing nets door-to-door, as well as educating people how to use and maintain them properly.

The distribution in Bo is in conjunction with the Sierra Leone national plan to distribute more than three million bed nets nationwide as part of an integrated health campaign that will also provide Vitamin A supplements and de-worming medication to children there.

In 2010, a similar net distribution in Sierra Leone provided almost every household with three nets per family.

"We know this ministry is working," said Bishop Thomas Bickerton, who chairs the United Methodist Global Health Initiative. "In the past eight years, the church has helped cut malaria's death toll in half. Beyond that, Imagine No Malaria is not only saving lives, it is contributing to church growth."

After the net distribution in 2010, Bishop John Yambasu in Sierra Leone reported that several tribal chiefs requested help in creating United Methodist churches where none had previously existed.

Earlier this month, Imagine No Malaria announced that United Methodists have donated $60 million to fighting malaria, which equates to 80 percent of the denomination's goal of raising $75 million by 2015.

About Imagine No Malaria
Imagine No Malaria is an extraordinary ministry of the people of The United Methodist Church, putting faith into action to end preventable deaths from malaria in Africa, especially the death of a child or a mother. With a comprehensive approach to fighting this killer disease, Imagine No Malaria empowers the people of Africa to improve health infrastructure and achieve a sustainable victory over malaria.

Media contact:
Diane Degnan ddegnan@umcom.org
615-742-5406 (office) 615-483-1765 (cell) 
www.umcpresscenter.org

SOURCE United Methodist Communications