SUCCESS STORIES

Faith-Based Initiative Reaches Rural Africa's "End of the Road"

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PROBLEM:

Malaria is endemic in Mozambique, Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and Namibia. Reaching small isolated rural communities is expensive and difficult but vitally important in fighting malaria. The most significant challenge is to mobilize a delivery system that reaches the most vulnerable populations that live at the "end of the road."

SOLUTIONS:

Episcopal Relief and Development developed a project called Nets for Life to reach those living on the Last Mile in Africa by capitalizing on much of the infrastructure of the Anglican Church. Nets for Life is an Africawide malaria initiative aimed at distributing one million Long-Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets (LLINs) across 16 countries in Africa by the end of 2008. It specializes in reaching isolated populations, and was officially launched on April 27, 2006, in Zambia.

While in many Sub-Saharan nations, governments' ability to extend health care coverage is deeply compromised, people continue to look to the Anglican Church, regardless of faith, for provision of essential services. Each parish has up to ten outstations, providing women and youth networks that, when trained and engaged, become powerful volunteer forces that penetrate entire communities.

To date, 33,000 nets have been distributed in each of these countries: Angola, Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia. In both Congo and Mozambique, 16,500 nets have been distributed, and an additional 16,500 will be distributed in Ghana and Burundi this year. The expenses for the program include the cost of the net (average $6-7) plus $6 per net for monitoring, evaluation, education, vector management, advocacy for parallel effective malaria treatment and prevention methods, including drug access and indoor residual spraying.

LESSONS LEARNED:

Leveraging resources of the faith community in areas where government infrastructure is unreliable is a highly successful means of assuring that hard-to-reach populations have access to life-saving tools for the prevention and treatment of disease. In most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Church mission hospitals provide 30% to 40% of total health care provision, especially in remote and isolated locations, making them powerful allies in the fight against malaria.

Sources:

Episcopal Relief and Development
Malaria Programs
http://er-d.org/malaria

For further information contact:

Susan Lassen
Episcopal Relief and Development
slassen@er-d.org

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