Preventing Childhood Malaria Deaths in Mashegu

In September 2019, Physicians for Social Justice launched a Long-Lasting Insecticide Net (LLIN) awareness and distribution campaign in 82 rural communities in Kontagora. It was a most ambitious campaign planned and executed in collaboration with local partners and the state & local government authorities in Niger State. Within this reporting period of September to December 2019, all 82 mostly rural communities were vreached by malaria mobile health outreach teams and trained community volunteers.

Activities implemented include advocacy visits to key community stakeholders including traditional and religious leaders in the target communities to get their commitment and support on the LLIN campaign, house-to-house LLIN demonstration sessions on how to air and care for LLINs in 780 households, targeted malaria prevention education, prophylaxis, malaria Rapid Diagnostic Testing & treatment services, health talk to community members on the importance of sleeping inside insecticide treated nets. As part of the campaign’s social mobilization activities, PSJ also launched a community theatre to raise awareness about malaria and reinforce already delivered messages to families about ways of malaria prevention. Our outreach mobile health team continued to emphasize and educate families especially nursing mothers on how to recognize early symptoms and signs of malaria and on the need for pregnant women, infants and young children to be taken to health facilities to receive prompt malaria diagnosis and treatment. A total of 6192 community members received health education, 780 households received LLINs, including 102pregnant women. had RDT tests.

It was indeed joyful for thousands of community members who trooped out en-mass to listen to the sensitization sessions and to watch demonstration sessions on how to hang and care for LLINs, even as they expressed their gratitude to our donors for remembering them once again by bringing the malaria outreach campaign to their doorsteps. On behalf of these communities we serve, we thank all our donors. We specially thank our donors who have made recurring donation to this project. For the hundreds of children and pregnant women whose lives have been saved by your donations, we say thank you.