Malaria
Malaria is preventable and curable. Still, the lack of care or economic difficulties in accessing medicines make it a deadly disease.
Poor prevention also increases the risk of contracting the disease. It is therefore important to avoid mosquito bites that transmit the disease through the use of mosquito nets with insecticide or acquisition of health habits that prevent the spread of the insect, such as avoiding stagnant water.
currently
243 million recorded cases of people who contract malaria each year and nearly one million deaths because of it, of which 90% occur in Africa. Childhood, along with pregnant women, is the group most vulnerable to the disease. So much so that The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in Africa every 45 seconds a child dies from malaria.
In Burkina Faso, malaria is endemic. In the area where we operate north of the country, because almost 44% of deaths in children and juveniles. The National Plan to Combat Malaria distributed eight million insecticide-treated nets last year, however, despite this progress, the country only 10% of children under 5 sleeping under a mosquito net. ;
Halting and reversing the incidence of malaria - the third target of the sixth Millennium Development Goal by 2015 - requires investment in palliative development programs that improve health care (in northern Burkina Faso, for example, there is one doctor for every 215,256 inhabitants) and access to treatments to combat disease, but also in preventive programs and sustainable development, in addition to protecting against mosquito bites (bed nets and insecticides), involving a change of habits and customs of the community to help halt the spread of outbreaks birthplace the mosquito that transmits malaria.
these lines, we conducted a program of prevention and treatment malaria and other endemic diseases in 54 schools in the province of Yatenga and Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre where we serve children with severe malnutrition.
Three times a year are carried out medical examinations and deal with malaria malaria cases detected, while awareness days are held aimed at the entire educational community (parents, teachers and students.
these days are working in three areas: the acquisition of habits and daily routines to halt the spread of the malaria mosquito, how to avoid the appearance stagnant water in the home environment, wells and water sources, and promote cleanliness, regular use of insecticide-treated nets to protect themselves from mosquito bite transmits the disease, and recognition of common symptoms malaria by stressing the need for medical treatment once detected and recognized.
more resources are needed to control malaria, the World Health Organization estimates that about 6 billion dollars, triple of $ 1.8 million committed in 2010. Compliance with the goal of halting and reducing the incidence of malaria in four years, depending on which many African countries also meet the fourth and fifth Millennium Development Goals, reducing child mortality by two thirds and improve maternal health.