Pioneer project and malaria in mid-Western Uganda
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As Malaria Consortium’s Pioneer project in Western Uganda enters its fourth and final year, we met with representatives of all stakeholders as well as the donor, Comic Relief, to outline a way forward.
In the mid-west of Uganda, malaria is a leading cause of death among children under the age of five. This high rate of malaria is linked to it being a relatively high transmission area but also due to challenges within the health system.
The Pioneer Project has been working to reduce the number of cases and deaths from malaria in five districts in this region of Uganda, with a specific focus on strengthening the capacity of the health system to respond to malaria and addressing severe malaria – the most deadly form of the disease – at community level.
At the annual Pioneer meeting, hosted by the Vice-Chairman of Kyankwani District, Mr. Ronald Nakamga, Malaria Consortium staff met with more than 65 people, including community members, health workers, local District Health Officers, the National Malaria Control Programme and the project donor, Comic Relief, to discuss the successes of the Pioneer project in the region and to consider what might come next.
Care givers and health workers talked about the effect the project had on their lives through stories and live testimonies. One health worker described the impact of community dialogues – community level meetings facilitated by village health workers on important health issues such as malaria prevention. These are organised as part of the behaviour change communication strategy. Bukwiri primary school pupils also performed an excellent drama designed to raise awareness about malaria control.
The afternoon was dedicated to group work on several topics such as the approaches to continuous nets distribution, the importance of entomological surveillance and the impact of behaviour change communication activities. This was also the opportunity for all stakeholders to discuss what could be done to sustain the project’s impact.
Dr. Anthony Nuwa, Programme Manager of the Pioneer Project raised the importance of district health officials taking the lead in carrying forward the project’s activities, saying: “The implementers – the District Health Team members – (must) be the first ones committed to plan for these activities and look for the funding.”
Dr. Dan Kyamanywa, District Health Officer in Kibaale District, agreed, “It is crucial to do good even (with) small budgets and for the district to clearly state to other levels where the gaps are.”
Dr. Peter Okui, Acting Programme Manager of the National Malaria Control Programme of the Ministry of Health commented on the Ministry’s position regarding topics with respect to distribution of nets, the diagnostic policy and guidelines, rectal artesunate as pre-referral treatment and Integrated Community Case Management. He said it was the Ministry’s role to provide supervision and quality assurance and to make policies which “should be guided by evidence from the Pioneer and other projects”.