24th April, 2007
The African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) welcomes the theme for this year’s Africa Malaria Day: Leadership and Partnership for Results. On Africa Malaria Day, AMREF calls for governments and all those involved in the fight against malaria to directly involve community members in the design and delivery of malaria programmes.
In that way, they become participants in the delivery of quality and accessible health care rather than as passive recipients, making health systems stronger, and more effective and sustainable.
AMREF Director General Michael Smalley calls all those committed to fighting malaria to actively partner with communities. “Across every AMREF project we train community members right there in the village where it matters. We do this because most people who die from malaria will do so at home, having never reached a hospital or clinic. In Tanzania for example, 76% of children under the age of five die from malaria at home. Either the symptoms are not recognised in time, or the wrong drugs are administered, or the hospital will be too far away, or thought too expensive.”
The Uganda Malaria Partnership Programme (UMPP) in Kiboga, Uganda, managed by AMREF and funded by GlaxoSmithKline’s African Malaria Partnership Programme, has enabled communities to identify their own people to be trained as Community Medicine Distributors (CMDs), equipped with the skills to spot, diagnose and treat malaria at the earliest point within homes, as well as educating their neighbours on the importance of using insecticide treated mosquito nets. The CMDs have been given refresher training, a small financial incentive and a bicycle to travel from house to house all of which have contributed to the CMDs remaining active and engaged; the drop out rate of CMDs was 1-2% in UMPP areas compared to 23-33% in non UMPP areas.
“Within a few months of training the number of children under the age of five treated for malaria by Community Medicine Distributors surpassed those treated in hospitals and clinics, and contributed to three out of four children receiving correct treatment for malaria,” says AMREF’s Country Director in Uganda, Joshua Kyallo.
AMREF has handed the project over to the Ministry of Health which has included the successful community-based model into their national plans. “Bringing health education and treatment back into the heart of the community is the only way Africa can fight its biggest killer,” says Joshua Kyallo.
Notes to the editor
- Africa Malaria Day takes place on 25th April. It was nominated by African governments to raise awareness worldwide of the continent’s biggest killer.
- Malaria is the most important parasitic disease in the world. It causes as many as 1.5 million deaths each year, with up to 500 million clinical episodes, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa.
- A child dies from malaria every 30 seconds and about 80% of these cases happen in Africa.
- Children under five years and pregnant women bear the major burden of the disease as a result of immature and weakened immunity respectively.
- The interaction between HIV and malaria in adults is now well documented and is of particular concern in sub-Saharan Africa where both diseases show a significant degree of geographical overlap.
- Malaria is a disease of poverty. Infection leads to a reduction in community and household productivity and income generation. In addition, it results in significant levels of household expenditure (up to 25% of available income) for treatment and prevention. It is estimated that malaria costs Africa US$12 billion annually in lost Gross Domestic Product.