Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has so far treated 39,631 malaria cases in Batangafo, Central African Republic, in 2020, compared to 23,642 in the same period last year.

Development Diaries understands that September is the rainy season, when malaria becomes more deadly than ever in the country each year.

To mitigate the impact of this deadly disease and protect the community, MSF launched a targeted campaign of preventative treatment at the beginning of the rainy season.

In order to reach a maximum number of people and to make sure that people understood the importance of this initiative, the campaign was run in three stages.

First, MSF raised awareness of the campaign with the help of community leaders and by broadcasting spots on the local radio.

Next, the team went door-to-door to distribute the preventative treatment, before returning to each household to check if people had taken the treatment and to identify any side effects.

In the first round of the campaign, MSF said that it provided preventative treatment to a total of 32,670 people, including 6,531 children and 135 pregnant women.

‘During the rainy season, malaria ravages communities that have limited access to healthcare and preventive measures’, the MSF Medical Coordinator, Carmen Terradillos, said.

‘Every year, we are seeing a spike of malaria cases across MSF’s projects in the Central African Republic. In 2019, we treated 578,072 cases of malaria throughout the country’.

‘Receiving effective malaria treatments remains inadequate in a country that has seen years of conflict and neglect.

‘Treated mosquito nets are expensive and out of reach for many. The mass drug administration is an effective way to prevent complications from malaria’.

Residents of Batangafo, it was learnt, were eager to protect themselves and their family members from a disease which has already killed many children in their community.

The next round of the campaign is scheduled for the end of September.

Source: MSF

Photo source: MSF