We
approached the Tuareg settlement through a protective ring of
acacia thorn bushes and baobab trees. Inside a house, a gleaming
white mosquito net was installed proudly above a bed.
It was here, a few weeks ago, in the remote north of Niger,
that the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies and the Niger Red Cross distributed 21,000 mosquito
nets. Tchirozérine district was one of those chosen by
the International Federation to trial an innovative strategy
of distributing mosquito nets when children are vaccinated against
polio. We have come to see how the trial distribution faired.
Lessons learned from the trial are being put into practice across
the whole of Niger, where the International Federation will
distribute 2,030,000 long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito
nets in a week-long campaign starting today (19 December 2005).
The nets will cover every child under five, a total of 3.5 million
children, and every pregnant woman. In Niger, one child in four
does not reach her or his fifth birthday, often because of malaria.
Tchirozérine is a remote district in Agadez, in the north
of Niger. Distances are vast. This area is inhabited by the
Tuareg and Fulani, people who roam the Sahel in search of temporary
sources of water and pasture for their cattle and goats.
It has taken two long days of driving from Niamey, the capital,
to reach here. Considerable planning was required to pre-position
more than 21,000 mosquito nets in health centres and other points
throughout the district.
“We needed to use three types of distribution points,”
explained Elhadj Kollo, the regional medical officer in Agadez.
“We used a fixed point in the towns, one in the villages
and a mobile point to reach the nomadic populations.”
Red Cross volunteers registered more than 22,000 mothers during
the trial distribution, 4,000 more than expected. Such high
turnout was testimony to the information campaign and the high
demand for mosquito nets.
Moussa Inne Koka, secretary general of the Agadez branch of
the Niger Red Cross, described the procedure by which 72 Niger
Red Cross volunteers gave nets to mothers with a child under
five.
“Mothers were identified by the polio vaccination teams,
who made door-to-door visits.” he explained.
“An eligible mother received a mark on her thumb nail
and came to a distribution point to receive a net. A mark on
her other thumb nail indicated she had received a net.”
Despite the considerable logistical challenges, 92.5% of registered
mothers received a net. One of the difficulties was the unexpected
number of women coming to distribution points in towns. The
International Federation realised that more volunteers would
have to be posted in these distribution points in December’s
big distribution.
We visited Tchirozérine several weeks after the distribution
to see how families were using their nets. At one settlement,
Amina Adimou was preparing tea outside her tent.
“The vaccination team visited to treat my children,”
Amina explained.
“They told me to go to Aderbissinat to receive a mosquito
net.”
In spite of a 5 km distance, Amina walked to the distribution
point to receive her net. She installed it above the bed she
shares with her children.
“My youngest child had malaria last year. Now I know we
can sleep protected at night,” she said.
From Monday (19 December), 3,850 Red Cross volunteers will help
distribute 2,030,000 mosquito nets in Niger, in what the International
Federation believes is the biggest distribution ever carried
out.
International Federation malaria adviser for Africa, Stefan
Hoyer said campaigns like that in Niger would play a crucial
role in achieving the Millennium Developmental Goal of reducing
child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.
“The joining of forces between vaccination and malaria
programs can solve one of the key problems of malaria control
at the national level – the need to scale-up logistical
and operational support - to protect vulnerable children even
in the most remote households in Africa.”
The programme is funded by USD11.3 million from the Global Fund
to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and USD2 million from
the Canadian International Development Agency through the Canadian
Red Cross.
The Federation is supporting the Niger Ministry of Health, which
is coordinating the project with partners such as the Niger
Red Cross, World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF and the Centre
for Medical Research in Niamey.
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View
of Amina Adimou's tuareg settlement, Tchirozerine district
of Agadez, Niger. (p13627)
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Amina
Adimou's children with their mosquito net (p13626)
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Amina
Adimou, outside her tent, Tchirozerine district of Agadez,
Niger. (p13628)
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Inside
Amina Adimou's tent, with her two children and their mosquito
net. (p13629)
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Mariama
Sidi with her two children, Tchirozerine district of Agadez,
Niger. (p13630)
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News
