HealthJanuary 5, 2026

Cameroon and the Malaria Response: What Happened When Funding Stopped

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② Start Lesson

Key Vocabulary

malaria

A serious disease spread by mosquito bites that causes fever.

"The child had malaria and a high fever."

bed net

A net that people sleep under to avoid mosquito bites.

"People sleep under a bed net at night."

community health worker

A local health worker who visits people in their village to help with illness.

"A community health worker visited the village yesterday."

Listening

Cameroon and the Malaria Response: What Happened When Funding Stopped

In 2025 the United States paused some foreign aid that helped fight malaria in other countries. That pause stopped money for the President's Malaria Initiative, a U.S. program that gave nets, medicine and support to local health workers in Cameroon.

In northern Cameroon many community health workers lost their small pay and support. About two thousand U.S.-funded workers were no longer working. Health centres also had less injectable artesunate, the medicine for severe malaria. During the rainy season more children became very sick and some died.

Local teams still used bed nets and seasonal medicine where they could. The World Health Organization and programme leaders worry that gains may be lost.

111 words

Quiz

1. When did the United States pause some foreign aid?

2. What is the full name of the U.S. program that helped with nets and medicine?

3. Where did many community health workers lose their support?

Reading Practice

Read the article from the Listening section aloud. Your AI teacher will give you pronunciation feedback.

Discussion

Do you use any mosquito prevention at home? What do you use?

Have you ever been to a health clinic in a small town? What was it like?

What do you think about people getting medicines from outside their country?