Peace Corps Response volunteer Jesse Casanova works in Cameroon with Malaria No More. Below is his account of their awesome World Malaria Day activities featured on the Malaria No More website:

World Malaria Day is an opportunity for everyone to rally together for a single cause. It is a day when health partners, the government, the private sector and communities find common ground. This year, the Ministry of Health, health partners Malaria No More, JHPIEGO and CCA/SIDA, and corporate partners COTCO/ExxonMobil, MTN and Standard Chartered organized walks in three different cities in Cameroon to raise awareness of malaria and engage private sector companies to join the fight.

In the commercial capital of Douala, equipped with KO Palu t-shirts and flags, more than 4,000 people came out to support the malaria fight – the largest march to date in Cameroon for a public health initiative. Ranging from US Peace Corps volunteers walking alongside their communities to business leaders and government officials, everyone came together to march. But why not? In the last year, the government distributed over 8 million free bed nets, introduced rapid diagnostic tests, and started providing ACT drugs for free to children under 5. There is certainly cause for celebration.

World Malaria Day 2012 showed that coordination between governments, corporations and civil society is both possible and critical for addressing malaria. With increased funding from the private sector and coordination with governments, there may come a World Malaria Day in the not so distant future where we will celebrate victory in the fight against malaria.