Village workers improve malaria care

 

Village workers improve malaria care

Moissala, in the south of Chad, on the border with Central African Republic. From June to November, the number of cases of malaria increased five-fold. To diagnose and treat malaria cases as swiftly as possible, access to treatment needs to move beyond the hospital and into the villages. For those who live too far from a healthcare centre, the first contact will be the malaria village worker. Minh-Ly Pham, Médecins Sans Frontières Head of Mission (in French): "The malaria village workers are chosen by the community and then trained by Médecins Sans Frontières to screen patients for malaria, to give the first dose of treatment and to assess the severity of each case." Any complicated cases are referred to the health centres and children who are very weak are transferred by motorbike to Moïsassala Hospital. This programme, now in its second year, has led to a reduction in cases of severe malaria. 33,000 children in all have received treatment. The team however wants to go further and is planning to introduce preventive treatment for children under 5 and for pregnant women during the malaria season next year.