Vientiane, Laos - Tana Netting has donated 50 DawaPlus® long lasting insecticide-treated nets to the Silk Home maternity waiting homes, multi-function centres for information, education and safe delivery, for pregnant women coming from remote mountain areas of Laos, where medical services are not available. The nets were presented to Dr. Giovanni Deodato, the project’s director, as a follow-up to an initial donation delivered by Ride Planet Earth founder Kim Nguyen in February.  The donation will be distributed to the maternity waiting homes in Saravan province by local health authorities.

Pregnant women and children under the age of five are among the most vulnerable to malaria.  Every year, between 300 and 500 million cases of malaria worldwide lead to over one million deaths, most of which are children, as well as numerous miscarriages.  Sleeping under a long-lasting insecticide treated net is one of the most effective ways to prevent malaria.

“Tana Netting is proud to join forces with the Silk Home project and the Saravan provincial health service to enable Laotian women to have a safe pregnancy, free from malaria,” said Mullika Swaisaenyakorn, Tana Netting Customer Service Manager.  “We hope that our donation will encourage more women to participate in the project and understand the health benefits of sleeping under an impregnated mosquito net.”

The Silk Home project is funded by a EUR 2 million grant from the Italian Cooperation for Development in collaboration with the Lao Ministry of Health.  It is anticipated that in 2 years of operation, approximately 8-10,000 women will have utilized the 17 “Silk Homes” in Southern Laos and have benefited from the learning and practical activities attended during the waiting period.