By Collins Kaumba, WV Zambia
Chief Nurse Euphrasia examines, Kedric Siaduba (age 4), who has suffered for over a year now due to complicated conditions as a result of contracting malaria.
Euphrasia Malawo, is a nurse in-charge at Malima Rural Health Center (RHC). She says malaria is a great challenge in rural areas such as Malima in Zambia.
“Pregnant mothers and children are most vulnerable to malaria because their immune is weaker. Malaria causes miscarriages and in some instances it can cause a baby and mother to die before or during delivery.”
Euphrasia adds, “This is why we emphasize prevention among households through the use of insecticide treated nets. However, the challenge is how to make mosquito nets available for every expectant mother and child to access.”
Euphrasia says World Vision has been assisting with mosquito nets, which are usually distributed to expectant mothers. She has, however, pointed out that it has been difficult for all pregnant mothers and children to have access to the nets because the demand is high.
“Malaria prevention among pregnant mothers and children is important to safeguard their lives. Thus, provision of nets and sensitization should be enhanced. The challenge I have is that the government only gives the health center 50 nets to distribute to under-five children and pregnant mothers,” she explains.
Euphrasia says the health center attends to a minimum of ten pregnant mothers with malaria per day. She says however that they recorded high cases in February 2011. She treated 840 for under-five children and 640 cases for people above the age of five.
“In March alone we received 2,000 cases of malaria,” she quotes from one of the center’s record books. “I was receiving about 110 malaria cases of under-five children per week in that month.”
Euphrasia appreciates how World Vision has been assisting the clinic with anti-malaria drugs and mosquito nets which have helped to save the lives of many people, especially children and expectant mothers.
While malaria deaths are dropping in Zambia, it still affects a large number of children. According to the latest National Malaria Indicator Survey report released by Zambia’s Ministry of Health, “Malaria parasite prevalence was 16 per cent and severe anemia prevalence was found to be nine per cent among children under the age of five years.”
National statistics indicate that 70.4 per cent of households in Zambia now have mosquito nets. However, 19 per cent of people in Zambia die from malaria, including children.
Recently, World Vision donated one million mosquito nets to Zambia’s Ministry of Health. The nets will be distributed in Zambia’s Luapula province where it was found that few people have access to insecticide treated nets. The distribution of the bed nets in the area is targeting every bed space.
