Vision of a malaria-free world

Kampala

She is a year-old. But a single glance at Gift Nayebare makes one think she is six-months old. Frail and with breathing problems, Nayebare keeps stretching her hand towards her mother’s chest to find a breast. “Nayabare was a healthy child,” her mother, Ms Nice Kyoheirwe, narrates in hospital. “I had never been to hospital because of her. But somehow she started losing weight, had temperature and when I brought her to hospital they said it was malaria.”

Ms Kyoheirwe does not use a mosquito net in her home. Neither does Nayebara. But in hospital, where they have been admitted for two weeks, she was advised to use one. “I was told that my child fell sick because I do not sleep under a mosquito net,” she said, insisting that during the day, no one uses nets and hence vulnerability to mosquito bites.

Malaria remains one of the killer diseases in Uganda, claiming about 300 children every day.
A malaria specialist at World Vision, Mr Michael Mulowooza, told Saturday Monitor, “The key thing is to ensure that people have access to malaria control interventions, prevention and treatment and this involves the use of bed nets.”

According to the Health Ministry, although sleeping under a mosquito net is one of the most cost-effective ways to prevent malaria, only 42 per cent of the population in Uganda has access to a bed net. “It is not acceptable that more than 240, 000 children are dying every day globally, from preventable causes such as diarrhea, pneumonia, childbirth complications and Malaria,” Kevin Jenkins, World Vision International president states.

MDG target
The organisation’s National Director, Ms Rudo Kwaramba, warns that if the situation is not checked, the country will not meet the MDG targets by 2015. “Malaria alone kills between 70,000 to 110,000 people, mostly pregnant women and children below five years. If this situation remains unchecked, Uganda is unlikely to attain the MDG targets by 2015,” Ms Kwaramba says.

In an effort to promote child well-being, World Vision Uganda has started a five-year campaign, branded Child Health Now (CHN). The campaign focuses on malaria and malnutrition among children.
The global health campaign, which started last week ahead of the launch in August, is aimed at reducing the deaths of children below five years by two-thirds, an equivalent of six million lives saved each year.

The objective of the campaign is to contribute to the reduction of child mortality and morbidity through combating Malaria and Malnutrition among children, at the household, community and national levels. It is also expected that children and mothers will be able to access and utilise services for malaria prevention and management, access and utilise nutrition information and services.

The campaign is further aimed to influence the government to review and implement policies relating to Child health and that the community will be empowered to monitor and demand for child friendly health service delivery. “What is motivating is the fact that whatever we are addressing is preventable and we can empower communities to do their part in preventing these endless deaths,” World Vision board member Dr Ekiria Kikule, said.

According to Dr Kikule, the campaign will help Uganda achieve its Millennium Development Goal Four on reducing under-five mortality by 2015. Child and infant mortality rates remain high with an estimated 76 and 137 deaths for every 1,000 births respectively.

World Vision has been involved in three sectors namely: health, livelihood and education.
They have been sensitising people in rural areas about the importance of proper nutrition for children and pregnant mothers. The CHN campaign is an enhancement of the activities that have been in place. “The right to health is critical for the mental and physical development of the child and fundamental in contributing to sustainable development of a country,” Ms Kwaramba adds.

The Uganda Demographic and Health Survey 2006 reports that up to 38 per cent of children under five years of age are stunted, six per cent wasted, meaning they have low weight for their height and 16 per cent are under weight that is they have low weight for their age. At the same time the Millennium Development Goals report (2007), put the prevalence of underweight children at 20.4 per cent.

According to World Vision, though there is an increase in rural water coverage from 54.9 per cent to 61 per cent, there are many people still unable to access safe drinking water. “While the government has come up with major policies and a comprehensive strategy for health, there are still challenges with the level of funding that is required to implement all the programmes,” World Vision’s media analyst Simon Kaheru Kaheru. “In addition, the Food and Nutrition Bill has not been passed and this has left a gap in terms of improving the nutrition status of children.”

Further, Mr Kaheru adds that the socio-economic challenges like poverty, illiteracy, unsafe water, poor sanitation and inadequate hygiene, culture, displacement, social injustice, migration and poor governance are a hindrance to fighting the evil. Other factors highlighted include; high fertility rates, short births, overcrowding, and single parenthood.

About malaria

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by a eukaryotic protist of the genus Plasmodium. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas (22 countries), Asia, and Africa. Each year, there are approximately 350–500 million cases of malaria, killing between one and three million people, the majority of whom are young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Ninety percent of malaria-related deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is commonly associated with poverty, but is also a cause of poverty and a major hindrance to economic development. Symptoms of malaria include fever, shivering, arthralgia (joint pain), vomiting, anemia (caused by hemolysis), hemoglobinuria, retinal damage and convulsions.