Employing Effective Altruism in the Fight Against Malaria
When you see someone on the street asking for spare change, your heart naturally goes out to that person. What you see is someone who needs money. But, does giving that person money help him or she get off the street?
It’s a quick decision you need to make, but thinking longtermism, you have to consider how the person got there.
“The primary determinant of the differences in the value of the actions we take today is the effect those actions will have on the very long-term future.” (Forethought Foundation)
Perhaps the greater good is to find the person a job. Or maybe the person needs mental health care. A longtermism approach would be to invest your money in strategies that prevent the situation you encountered from happening.
In an article in the Irish Times last February 2020, O’Neill Mcpartlin, head of Effective Altruism Ireland, described EA as:
“about doing the most good that we can…[It] is the serious concern for the use of evidence and careful reasoning to work out how to maximise how much good can be done with a certain set of resources.”
He suggests that doing the “most good” might also “take the form of preventing existential — or extinction — risks.”
Preventing Malaria: A Longtermism Approach
According to the most recent statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2019, there were approximately 229 million malaria cases worldwide, resulting in 400,000 deaths. Children accounted for 67% of total 2019 malaria-related deaths. Statistics out of Medscape.com are more alarming. They say that between 1–3 million worldwide deaths due to malaria happen every year.
The overwhelming majority of malaria cases and deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2019, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Republic of Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and Niger accounted for almost half of all global malaria deaths. Children under the age of 6 are the most vulnerable. Medscape.com notes that malaria is the “world’s fourth leading cause of death in children younger than age five.”
Against Malaria Foundation
The Against Malaria Foundation (AMF) operates under the effective altruism philosophy of doing the greatest good by “preventing existential or extinction risks.” Its mission is to protect people from malaria. Efficiency, transparency, and demonstrating impact were among the Foundation’s guiding principles, placing it among the top-ranked NGOs by GiveWell and The Life You Can Save.
The primary vehicle for accomplishing AMF’s mission is the distribution and installment of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs). Each mosquito net costs only $2.00.
In early March 2021, AMF announced an agreement with the DRC Ministry of Health to fund 16.4 million mosquito nets by 2023. According to AMF, a minimum of 80 children under the age of five die every day from malaria. The nets will protect 30 million people living in six provinces of the DRC. The increased distribution of LLINs is anticipated to prevent 11,000 deaths, 6 to 11 million malaria cases, and improve the economic health of the DRC.
Final Thoughts
Malaria disease and deaths have a compounding effect on developing countries. The ill become vulnerable to economic and social upheavals. A treatable illness severely hampers the ability to move out of poverty on both an individual and national level. Preventing the risk by eliminating mosquito bites is the greatest good.
