Malaria Prevention for Women and Children

Welcome to the final project report from Health Poverty Action's ‘Malaria Prevention for Women and Children’ project.

In the most isolated areas of Bombali, Sierra Leone, malaria is a serious problem, particularly amongst the most vulnerable members of society - pregnant women, teenage mothers, and children under five. Many remote communities lack basic infrastructure, facilities and knowledge of the spread and symptoms of malaria. This project you've supported will reach 422,805 women and children by strengthening malaria prevention and treatment in rural communities which aren't reached by existing malaria programmes.

In Bombali, malaria rates are particularly high amongst pregnant women, teenage mothers, and children under five. This is largely due to limited knowledge about malaria, a lack of support, and the long distances from health services. Health Poverty Action is working to reduce the prevalence and impact of malaria among these vulnerable groups, strengthening health systems and reducing maternal and child deaths in this remote, overlooked region.

The project not only works to tackle existing cases of malaria, but your support has helped to ensure lasting, systemic change by enabling Heath Poverty Action to: 

• Train teachers as facilitators for 50 school health clubs – 100 teachers, two in each school - who will educate children about the dangers of malaria and how to prevent it.
• Increase number of Community Health Workers working in the region by 325, by introducing 3 extra Community Health Workers to each healthcare facility across the 10 Chiefdoms where we work, to ensure wider reach.
• Support and improve the way that Community Ambulance Committees monitor their progress, to ensure effective referral systems for malaria cases. This will focus especially on pregnant women, newborns and under-fives.
• Run dialogue sessions between Public Health Unit staff and Community Health Workers on guidelines for the use of Rapid Diagnosis kits, meaning that cases of malaria can be identified quickly and efficiently.
• Monthly community malaria dialogue sessions facilitated by our Community Health Workers. Also, training for Community Health Workers to roll out community health 'competitions' at household and community levels, encouraging engagement.
• Partner with Independent Radio Network to develop 15 short drama series capturing generic malaria prevention messages, and 20 short dramas with specific messages based on feedback from the Community Health Workers, teachers, pupils and Village Development Committees to support the learning.

Thank you for your support in achieving lasting change.

If you want to find out more about our work, both in Sierra Leone and across the world, you can visit our website here.

Verity and the team and Health Poverty Action