Overview:
Malaria is the number one cause of illness in children in Kenya. In the fight against malaria in rural Kenya, the needs are great but the solutions are simple. With inexpensive resources such as test kits, microscopes, and mosquito nets, HealthRight’s project saves hundreds of children’s lives every year.
HealthRight works to reduce the impact of malaria in 21 communities in the rural areas of the North Rift Valley of Kenya. In these communities, the project serves over 750,000 people who suffer frequently from the devastating effects of malaria including death. HealthRight projects work to provide equal access to crucial health resources such as education, tests and medicines in these excluded communities which suffer from poverty, lack of education, failing health facilities, discrimination, and isolation.
HealthRight achieves this impact by working at the community level and in the health facilities.
Strengthening Communities and Families:
HealthRight’s Malaria project in Kenya focuses on improving knowledge in communities about malaria prevention and treatment. To achieve this, HealthRight works with 1,050 community health workers and ten local community organizations. HealthRight provides these partners with training and material support to work in their communities raising awareness and encouraging healthy behaviors that can reduce the impact of malaria. The local organizations received small grants to organize malaria community events and campaigns. HealthRight hired a temporary mentor to help the local organizations develop their plans and submit proposals for their work.
In the past three months, HealthRight’s project has provided information about malaria to over 6,780 people in the communities by organizing events in schools, churches and community markets. In addition, 17,900 people have been tested for malaria in the 21 health centers where HealthRight works. And, over 18,000 people have received the life saving medicines to treat the illness.
In addition, the Community Health Workers visit families once every three months to answer health questions and to make referrals to the health facilities for malaria testing and treatment. Below is a table showing the number of home visits that have been made each month for the past two years. Over three months, 17,747 home visits have been made. The project is steadily aiming to achieve 7,000 home visits per month – or 21,000 every three months.
Strengthening Health Facilities and Clinics:
In April, with support from Global Giving, HealthRight provided new microscopes to six health facilities. These microscopes, which are necessary in order to diagnose malaria, work with electricity or with regular sunlight when electricity isn’t available. The six microscopes will be of great help in these very remote facilities.
Each month, the HealthRight project organizes and supports ten outreach clinics in remote villages. These outreach clinics offer health services out in the communities to those families that can’t easily get to the health facilities to see a doctor. In the past three months, 1,800 community members were treated through one of the outreach clinics.
Mosquito Net Distributions:
This quarter, HealthRight was responsible for transporting 5,200 LLITNs to remote health facilities in four of the five districts. Although supply of nets has been limited in the past six months due to a national-level shortage, facilities are reporting that demand for them has increased, which is a good indication that the community messages are making a difference.
Community health workers collect information about the use of mosquito nets during their household visits. While use among children has remained steady, the community health workers are measuring a positive trend in the percentage of pregnant women that are sleeping under the nets. This is a good indication that prevention messages are leading to a change in behaviors.
Future Directions:
HealthRight is still waiting for additional funding from Global Giving supporters so that we can expand upon the “Malaria Free Community” initiative. The priority needs that have been identified include training for health facility staff on the Treatment of Severe Malaria and a supply of 5,000 rapid diagnostic tests to the health facilities to improve diagnosis before the onset of the high malaria season.
In the past three months, HealthRight’s project has provided information about malaria prevention to over 14,600 people by organizing 96 community events in schools, churches and community markets. In addition, HealthRight has supported 1,050 trained community health workers to visit the homes of 15,600 families. During these household visits the health workers provide education about malaria and referrals to the health facilities for malaria services like testing and treatment.
Since October, over 18,600 people have been tested for malaria in the 21 health centers where HealthRight works. And, over 25,500 people have received the essential life saving medicines that are needed to treat the illness.
Each month, the malaria project organizes and supports ten outreach clinics in remote villages and offer health services to those that can’t easily access the health facilities. In the past three months, the project documented 2,130 community members that were able to receive health services through one of the outreach clinics.
HealthRight is awaiting additional resources to expand upon the “Malaria Free Community” initiative which will bring integrated malaria testing, treatment and prevention services directly to 1,000 households. Clinical staff and supplies will travel by medical van to each of the households and offer malaria testing for all cases of fever. For those with malaria, the clinical team will offer medication and make sure that the household has a mosquito net to prevent future cases. To complete these activities, HealthRight is seeking an additional $8,200. The funds will reduce the risk of death from malaria for over 3,000 children in this rural community.
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With the initial funds raised by the project, HealthRight has initiated the Malaria Free Community project. The project will contribute to reducing malaria deaths in children in the Konyao community in the district of North Pokot Kenya. Funds from this Global Giving Campaign are being used for the purchase of rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) for malaria. These RDTs are a simple, effective way of testing children for malaria very quickly without the need for medical equipment, supplies or clinical staff.
HealthRight, in collaboration with staff from the Konyao Sub-District Hospital, will conduct an outreach clinic in a remote village of Konyao, where access to health services is very restricted. Konyao was chosen based on HealthRight project data which showed very high rates of malaria in this community last year. This village of 1,000 households (approximately 5,000 people) will be visited by the project team. Every child in the village that is suffering from fever, with is estimated at nearly 70% of all children in the past two weeks, will be tested for malaria. Those children that test positive for malaria will receive immediate treatment using the approved first line medications. Children that test negative will receive further examination from the health facility staff to try to determine the cause of fever.
During the outreach clinic, community health workers (CHWs) will be on hand to locate all cases of fever in the households. At the same time, these CHWs will provide families with education about malaria and the risks for children and pregnant women while also distributing mosquito nets to those families in need.
After two weeks, the Malaria Free Community project will revisit the Konyao community to offer another day of testing and treatment while following up with all children that tested positive previously. The CHWs will continue their educational campaigns and household visits.
To date, HealthRight and the local project partners have solicited support for the Malaria Free Community project with the health facility staff and Kenyan authorities. The community of Konyao was selected as the target site and the staff has attained estimates for the purchase of the RDTs.
In the next three months, HealthRight will have conducted the outreach clinics in Konyao. Additional funding will allow HealthRight to expand this project into other communities and families in need in North Pokot District.
Attached is a story of HealthRight’s other successful work in the past three months in North Pokot at the Kacheliba District Hospital, which serves families in Konyao.
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