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Anti-malaria battle gains momentum in Kilosa District
2005-04-25 21:54:42
By Alpha Nuhu recently in Kilosa
An ambitious scheme to free Kilosa Disrict from the malaria scourge is yielding positive results with the reported decline of morbidity and mortality rates among pregnant women and children under the age of five years.
Kilosa District authorities say that with an enhanced campaign to promote the use of insecticide treated nets (ITNs), the area will, in the not so distant future, be a malaria-free zone.
A parasitic disease spread by the bite of a mosquito, malaria kills more than a quarter of all children under the age of five years in Tanzania, according to figures from the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The statistics show that nearly 90 per cent or more than 30 million Tanzanians are at risk of malaria infection, including 5.5 million children aged below five years old.
Consuming about 350 million U.S. dollars, or 3.5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) each, the disease is also the cause of anemia during pregnancy, miscarriage and low birth weight.
It is these devastating effects of the disease that in October 2002 propelled UNICEF in collaboration with Care International and World Vision to implement the Kilosa discount voucher pilot scheme to halt malaria cases among the district’s population of more than 400,000.
The pilot project mainly dealt with the promotion of the use of ITNs and community sensitization and mobilization.
Lessons learned from the project in both Kilosa and Kibaha districts have helped expansion of the discount voucher nationwide.
The Tanzania National Voucher Scheme (TNVS) is the first innovative programme of its kind that uses discount voucher to pregnant women and infants access to insecticide treated nets at a reduced price, says Dr Samson Agbo, UNICEF Project Officer Health.
He says the project is a unique promising model that provides targeted subsidiaries for those who are most vulnerable to malaria.
In Kilosa District the national voucher scheme was officially introduced November last year to protect the lives of pregnant women and children below five years of age.
Under this project every pregnant woman is given a numbered voucher during her first antenatal car visit which allows her to purchase an insecticide treated net at a reduced price.
Rosemary Nguruwe, the Kilosa District Malaria Control Co-ordinator, says until last month a total of 5,103 out of 7,502 pregnant women who visited Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) centres in the district have already received vouchers for the purchase of the ITNs.
“We’re happy that many women have responded positively to the project. These results encourage us to continue with the community mobilization and sensitization campaign to battle the malaria scourge,” she says.
The project is still at its infancy, so we need to enhance a vigorous campaign to make attain better results,” she adds.
Kilosa District Executive Director Theresia Mmbando is also optimistic that the programme will attain its set goals given the fact that there is positive public response as hundreds of pregnant women visit Maternal and Child Health clinics to check their health status.
“We’re encouraged with the public awareness of the anti-malaria drive. We hope we shall win the battle against the disease,” she says.
Through community mobilization and sensitization, the campaign on ITNs use has covered five divisions of Kilosa district; namely Kilosa Mjini, gairo, Mikumi, Kimamba and Magole.
Health officials at some selected MCH centres told a team of visiting journalists on a study of the implementation of the voucher scheme that villagers were happy that the project had lessened the burden of malaria treatment.
“At the beginning many women couldn’t understand the goals of the project, but with continuous mobilization and sensitization, hundreds of pregnant women have now joined the scheme giving hope the war against malaria can be won,” says Eliuko Mmbaga, a clinical officer in-charge at the Ulaya Health Centre.
“There’s a decline of malaria cases from 40 per cent to 30 per cent for in-patients, he adds.
Similar views are echoed by Juliana Rufulenge, a senior nursing officer at Kimamba Health Centre.
“Many pregnant women are now scrambling for the voucher scheme. The intorudction of the programme has seen a decline of malaria cases among pregnant women and children under the age of five.
Even cases of miscarriage have also dwindled,” she says.
Some pregnant women interviewed at Kimamba, Ulaya and zombo MCH clinics, thanked project donors, saying the scheme would improve their health status.
“I’m a beneficiary of the ITNs project and urge fellow women to join the voucher scheme to reduce the malaria burden,” says Elizabeth Ndebesi, a 30-year-old women from the Maasai community.
The haughty Maasai are one of Tanzania’s conservative tribes, which for ages have depended on traditional herbs to cure ills instead of adopting modern medicine.
To ensure sustanaibility of the project, Kilosa district authorities say they have a herculian task of continuing with the mobilization and sensitization campaign as a key strategy to combat malaria.
“Our challenge is to ensure that the project is sustainable through the involvement of the community,” explains Epiphania Msigala, the District Reproductive Health Co-ordinator.
Tanzania is among six African countries which have excelled in the fight against malaria. Other countries are Eritrea, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia.
However, despite the notable success in the anti-malaria war, this East African nation of more than 30 million people still needs more resources like nets, insecticides, drugs, training for non-health workers and volunteers and financial in the war against the disease.
“If Tanzania is to make any difference in the battle against malaria,” says Dr Agbo, “then we must strive to achieve the 60 per cent target set by the 2000 Abuja Declaration” on the use of ITNs.
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