By Adebayo Depiver | Program Officer
On behalf of the communities we serve in rural Mashegu, we start this update report with an expression of our profound gratitude and sincere appreciation to our donors for their generous donations towards supporting our malaria prevention project. We are especially most thankful to Ford FoundationMatching Gift Program (via GlobalGiving) for generously supporting the mobile health camps and malaria prevention outreach activities in Adogo and Kaboji communities and surrounding villages.
This reporting period (Quarter 2 of 2019) Physicians for Social Justice, PSJ, team of clinicians, community health workers and mobilizers conducted back-to-back Integrated Malaria outreach and Mobile health camps in Kaboji and Adogo communities in rural Mashegu. To reach underserved villages in and around Adogo community, the team drove for over two hours in a four-wheel drive truck loaded with lifesaving anti-malaria medications and other medical supplies. Adogo and its surrounding villages are hard-to-reach with most of its inhabitants engaged in peasant farming. For these communities, one of their biggest concerns include the poor state of maternal, newborn and child health in their community, malaria being a major contributor.
The mobile health camp in Kaboji and Adogo communities successfully reached 1,578 women mostly pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and under-5 children were tested for malaria using rapid diagnostic test (RDT). 1444 community members who tested positive to malaria were treated with Artesunate Combination Therapy (ACT) including 607 children and 807 women. Also 150 pregnant and nursing mothers were provided with Long-Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLINs). For mothers like 21year old Ramatu, the visit of the mobile health team to her village in Adogo was a life saver for her 9months old baby boy, Hassan, who had been running high fever. With no money to travel to the neighbouring town to visit the health centre, she had arrived the venue of the mobile outreach at around 7 am and waited patiently for over two hours for the mobile health team to arrive. Using RDT, baby Hassan was diagnosed malaria positive and was promptly treated with ACT and antipyretics. Two days later, the baby Hassan made a full recovery which her mother, Ramatu, described as ‘miraculous’. She was full of gratitude to all our donors who made Hassan’s access to free treatment possible through their donations.
In addition, community members were sensitized on malaria signs and symptoms, as well as prevention measures, which include sleeping under LLINs and draining away stagnant water in their homes and surroundings. In addition to malaria. The mobile clinic and health campaign also provided medical consultations and treatment for villagers on other ailments, such as body aches, ulcer, diarrhea, typhoid, skin lesions, and worms. 664 Children received Vitamin A capsules (200,000UI and 100,000UI) and Albendazole for de-worming, while 562 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers received multivitamins..
The two mobile health camps were conducted timely during a period when the incidence of malaria cases spike in this region as the SW monsoon winds usher-in heavy rains which provides a fertile breeding environment for malaria vector, female anopheles mosquitoes, For the predominantly farming population in Kaboji and Adogo communities, the situation is exacerbated by the lack of proper drainages as well as widespread shortages of long-lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs). Additionally, owing to poor healthcare infrastructure, access to Maternal and Newborn Child Health services are very limited in rural communities like Adogo.
Once again, the entire PSJ team are grateful to you our donors for all your generous donations in support of this project. Thank you.
By Muazu Shedrack | Project Manager
By Kenneth Nnaji | Program Assistant
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