SUCCESS STORIES

Women and Children at the Heart of Solution for Malaria in Ethiopia

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Written by Susan Walters for Voices, with Photographs by Bonnie Gillespie

At 14 years old, Genet is a tall, thin young woman with a bright smile. Showing off her family’s bed net, she points to the light-blue cloth rolled above the low lying mattress where she and her three sisters sleep each night. The mattress sits on the dirt floor pushed into the corner of the room along the mud brick walls.

Like her nearby neighbors, Genet’s family began using the net four months ago in May, when they received it from a community health worker visiting the village. “The woman health worker taught us it is important to sleep under the net to protect us from malaria,” she said, smiling brightly.

The village of Adah Wared is similar to other rural communities in Ethiopia, a country that three years ago was ravaged by malaria and is now making extraordinary and urgent strides to control outbreaks of the deadly disease through new prevention and treatment efforts.

At the center of this effort is the community health clinic where the majority of regular visitors are women, children and infants who are there to receive monthly, yearly or age appropriate check-ups.

Since many clinics in Ethiopia are part of the rapid scaling up of malaria prevention and diagnosis, Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) are given to women with children, Intermittent Preventative Therapy (IPT) is provided for pregnant women, and the newest drug protocol, Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) are given to those who test positive for malaria.

Country-wide, clinics are receiving and putting into practice rapid diagnostic tools and ACTs to help speed up the pace of correct diagnosis and treatment.

A new UNICEF report, "Malaria and Children," prepared on behalf of Roll Back Malaria Partnership (RBM) contains new assessment on the progress being made in malaria control so far.

“Controlling malaria is vital to improving child health and economic development in affected countries, said Ann W. Veneman, UNICEF executive director. “Studies show that malaria disproportionately affects the poorest people in these (sub-Saharan African) countries.”

In Ethiopia’s recent past, death of children under five years olds was a likely and tragic outcome for those with severe malaria. Districts with large populations of people living in rural impoverished communities where malnutrition, diarrhea, and anemia are common conditions remain at a disadvantage in the struggle to control malaria. For this reason, integrating malaria control and education into all levels of health care is an approach that is both efficient and effective.

Genet, her family and neighbors are benefiting from the free distribution of the long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets. Equally long lasting is the education Genet received on the purpose, use and care of the net which will continue to protect her and her family in years to come.