Fighting back against one of the Sahel's biggest killers

 

In this short report, Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris addresses the issue of malaria prevention in the Sahel, visiting the latest distribution of seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) for children under five in Nigeria's northern state of Sokoto.

As part of the ACCESS-SMC project, Malaria Consortium, in partnership with Catholic Relief Services, is supporting seven countries across the Sahel to roll out seasonal malaria chemoprevention during the months of the rainy season, when malaria rates soar. This intervention is proven to reduce malaria mortality in children under five by up to 75 percent when used alongside other preventive methods, such as nets and indoor residual spraying.

Funded by UNITAID, ACCESS-SMC is now in its second year of distributions and feedback from the field is encouraging, with countries reporting high coverage rates. This year, thanks to ACCESS-SMC, more than six million children across the Sahel will benefit from this lifesaving treatment.

To read more about this project, click here.