Malaria initiatives join for 1st time in Côte d’Ivoire outreach
A boy winces as he receives a measles vaccination during an
integrated health campaign in Agboville, Côte d’Ivoire. UMNS photos by
Mike DuBose. |
By Tim Tanton*
Dec. 15, 2008 | ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire (UMNS)
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The Rev. Gary Henderson helps Marie Akissi Arriko hang an insecticide-treated mosquito net at her home.
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The distribution of nearly a million mosquito nets in this West African
country represents the first collaboration of two anti-malaria programs
supported by United Methodists.
Staff with the Nothing But Nets campaign and the United Methodist
Committee on Relief’s Malaria Control Program worked together for
several months, along with other key partners, in planning the November
distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets to families in Côte
d’Ivoire.
"We’re hoping that this campaign here, in Côte d’Ivoire, will be a
model for future campaigns to really leverage the expertise of
faith-based groups, in particular The United Methodist Church," said
Adrianna Logalbo, director of the Nothing But Nets Campaign at the
United Nations Foundation.
"It’s been really neat for us to develop these relationships with
each other, and we’ve all brought something very different to the
table," said Melissa Crutchfield, staff executive for international
disaster response with UMCOR. The cooperation between the conferences
and the agencies has "been a model and hopefully can be replicated … for
this same type of campaign in the future."
The nets were purchased through Nothing But Nets, and UMCOR helped
train the volunteers who distributed them. UMCOR is a unit of the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries. Nothing But Nets is promoted in
the church by the Global Health Initiative, housed at United Methodist
Communications.
"In many instances, we face problems of magnitude that are beyond the
scope of any one organization, even the church," said the Rev. Larry
Hollon, top staff executive of United Methodist Communications. "The
work in Côte d’Ivoire illustrates how partnerships that combine the
strengths and skills of many partners can achieve a scale that benefits
hundreds, if not thousands of people."
Education is important
Other partners in the nets campaign included the U.N. Foundation and
the denomination’s Côte d’Ivoire and Texas annual conferences. The
outreach was part of an integrated health campaign involving other
partners, and it included providing measles vaccinations, de-worming
tablets and doses of vitamin A to Ivoirian children between the ages of 9
months and 59 months.
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Under the watchful eye of a gendarme, Ivoirian
United Methodist volunteers Miriam Bakayoko (left) and Juliana Abe walk
through the village of Samo to monitor the net distribution.
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Behind the scenes, UMCOR’s Malaria Control Program paid for a training
of 800 Ivoirian volunteers, comprising United Methodists from Côte
d’Ivoire and community educators appointed by the Ivoirian Ministry of
Health, and providing information to a 35-member delegation of Texas
Conference volunteers.
Shannon Trilli, staff executive for project implementation with the
Board of Global Ministries, emphasized the importance of educating
people on the correct use of nets and training local volunteers.
"Educating and preventing the disease rather than treating it once a
young child or pregnant woman is infected is a more powerful strategy in
our church’s fight to eliminate malaria," she said.
Though many nets are distributed, "a dismal few are actually used"
unless education is provided in an appropriate cultural context, Trilli
said. She cited examples of bed nets being used to catch fish, protect
farm animals and, in one instance, provide material for a wedding dress.
Two programs
Started in 1996, the Malaria Control Program provides community
training for prevention, free medications and consultations for people
who are ill or vulnerable to malaria, and nets to pregnant women and
families with young children. It addresses nutrition, water and
sanitation needs, education, the "judicious spraying of insecticides"
and strengthening the church’s network of hospitals, clinics and health
workers, Trilli said.
Working through the Kissy Hospital Outreach Department in Freetown,
Sierra Leone, the program provides malaria training to traditional
healers in rural villages, as well as counseling and nets to pregnant
women and parents with children under 5. In a remote area of the
Democratic Republic of Congo, the program has worked with Minga
Methodist Hospital to train local fathers on how to reduce malaria.
Trilli urged support for the Malaria Control Program along with Nothing But Nets.
The U.N. Foundation started Nothing But Nets in 2006, with the people
of The United Methodist Church as a major partner. The campaign caught
on with congregations and other groups, who purchased nets for $10 each
in order to "send a net, save a life."
For nearly 10 years, the U.N. Foundation and its partners in the
Measles Initiative—UNICEF, the World Health Organization, the Centers
for Disease Control and the American Red Cross—have been working to
vaccinate every child under age 5 for measles. In the last two years,
that effort has included the distribution of long-lasting
insecticide-treated nets.
The integrated campaigns—providing vaccinations, nets and other
services—have been done in about 10 countries so far, Logalbo said. For
the Côte d’Ivoire campaign, the U.N. Foundation served as the connection
with partners such as UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the
Ivoirian Ministry of Health.
"What is incredibly unique about this instance," she said, "… is the
fact that we have partnered directly with The United Methodist Church
here in Côte d’Ivoire through our partnership with the people of The
United Methodist Church in the United States." Church members spread the
message about the campaign and served as a volunteer force, she said.
Nothing But Nets has worked with annual conferences in The United
Methodist Church, including the Texas Conference, which announced last
year that it would raise at least $1 million for nets. That money, along
with $4 million in matching funds from Nothing But Nets, paid for the
nets for Côte d’Ivoire.
Follow-up work
The monitoring and evaluation phase now under way in Côte d’Ivoire is
crucial, Trilli said. "In many cases, if it weren’t for the follow-up
home visits, the nets would not have been used."
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Melissa Crutchfield supervises the hanging of a demonstration mosquito net.
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The partnership must look at indicators of success beyond net usage,
such as decreases in malaria cases and child deaths. Having a
coordinated follow-up is the linchpin to a campaign’s success. "We will
work diligently to arm our Ivoirian UMC volunteers with the training and resources to complete this crucial aspect of the malaria net distribution," she said.
Hollon said the campaign’s implications for the future are obvious.
"Where we can partner with others who share similar concern for all
peoples, the church should collaborate in life-giving, life-enhancing
work. Surely it is what Jesus called his disciples to do when he called
them to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, reach out to the imprisoned
and care for the sick," he said.
Donations for the Malaria Control Program can be placed in local
church offerings or sent by check, payable to UMCOR, to P.O. Box 9068,
New York, N.Y. 10087-9068. The program’s name and Advance No. 982009
should be noted. Credit-card donations can be made by calling (800)
554-8583.
Donations for Nothing But Nets can be made payable to GCFA and placed
in church offering plates or sent to the same address as above.
*Tanton is director of the Media Group at United Methodist Communications.
News media contact: Tim Tanton, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Video clips
Melissa Crutchfield, UMCOR: “A father approached me”
Adrianna Logalbo, U.N. Foundation: “This will be a model”
The Rev. Gary Henderson, Global Health Initiative: “We have an opportunity”
Related stories
Partnerships provide model for future health care efforts
Campaign offers life-saving help to Ivoirian families
United Methodists celebrate partnership, lives saved in Côte d’Ivoire health campaign
Nets distribution campaign kicks off in Côte d’Ivoire
United Methodists look forward to nets outreach in Côte d’Ivoire
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Malaria Initiatives
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