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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
 Posted - 22 Jan 2015 : 17:54:10
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Good news, I hope funding is still available to continue and expand this programme a long time into the future.
Malaria incidence drops by 85% - NMCP programme manager
The Point: Published on Thursday, January 22, 2015
Balla Kandeh, programme manager at the National Malaria Control Programme, NMCP, has said malaria incidence reduced by 85.5 per cent; admissions due to malaria dropped by 74 per cent and malaria-attributable deaths dropped by 90 per cent.
Despite the worldwide burden of malaria, significant progress has been made in The Gambia’s programme with an overall reduction in the child mortality rate of 17 per cent in 2010, he added.
Mr Kandeh was speaking yesterday during the official launching of the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) project at the Paradise Suites Hotel.
The forum, described as an inception seminar, brought together various stakeholders within and outside the Ministry of Health, and was organised by the NMCP under the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) in collaboration with CRS.
The SMC is a three-year pilot project within CRR and URR, andits objectives include to administer a complete treatment course of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine sp plus amodiaquine aq to children at intervals, beginning at the start of the transmission season for a period of four months, so as to reduce the malaria burden.
According to Mr Kandeh, the initiative had clearly demonstrated the level of partnership established over the years by the Ministry of Health and the NMCP.
The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare enjoys a broad range of partnerships across all sectors of the society, including the media houses, community-based organization and civil society organizations, he said.
Controlling and preventing malaria requires a collaborative effort from all sectors of the society, and no single person or unit could do it alone, Kandeh added.
Therefore, every one of them could help in advocacy and social mobilization campaigns as efforts are made against combating the disease, he went on.
According to Mr Kandeh, malaria is a major public health problem, with an estimated burden of 216 million clinical episodes and 655,000 deaths worldwide attributed to malaria in 2010.
He added that a significant proportion (91 per cent) of reported deaths from malaria occurs in sub-Saharan Africa, where children under 5 years of age bear most of the burden.
In 2010, it was estimated that 86 per cent of all malaria deaths occurred in this age group, he noted.
Kandeh said the SMC is recommended in areas of highly seasonal malaria transmission throughout the Sahel sub-region.
He thanked UNICEF and CRS for providing the funds for the implementation of this new strategy, and supporting them all the way.
He also thanked WHO and the media fraternity, particularly the Association of Health Journalists, for the partnership, as well as the Director of Health Services for all the support and technical guidance given to the NMCP over the years.
The Director of Health Services, Dr Samba Ceesay, said the launching of the SMC project is yet another national malaria control strategy, which demonstrated The Gambia’s renewed efforts to make progress toward preventing and controlling malaria.
He said reducing the impact of malaria is key to the achievement of the MDGs, especially MDGs 4, 5 and 6 and is in line with The Gambia’s Vision 2020 development blueprint.
Dr Ceesay said as they launch the SMC project, spearheaded by the Gambia CRS in collaboration with Ministry of Health, UNICEF, WHO and MRC, they must soberly reflect on the progress made and renew their collective efforts toward eventually eliminating malaria in The Gambia.
According to Dr Ceesay, the benefits of SMC would not yield great results without the full support of regional governors, district chiefs, village heads and extension workers in mobilizing the communities to support the project.
Author: Abdoulie Nyockeh
http://thepoint.gm/africa/gambia/article/malaria-incidence-drops-by-85-nmcp-programme-manager
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"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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sab
United Kingdom
912 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2015 : 23:27:58
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Toubab how many times was the Ministry sold (mentioned) in this article?
A definate programme for laptops/database - See Annexe -
Not just in The Gambia........as below
The last decade witnessed unprecedented progress in malaria prevention and control in the African Region. Between the years 2000 and 2012, malaria mortality rates among children under-five years of age declined by 54%. During the same period, malaria death rates decreased by 49% in the population and by 54% among children under-five years of age.
Very interesting article below:
Now to what the programme is about - Children between 3months & 59months only
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/85726/1/9789241504737_eng.pdf
3.2 When to implement it
SMC should be implemented during the high malaria transmission period, when the incidence of malaria is high.
It should be administered to children aged 3–59 months at 1-month intervals (SMC cycle) up to a maximum of four cycles in a year (SMC round). SMC with SP + AQ provides a high degree of protection for up to 4 weeks, and protection decreases rapidly thereafter.
It is therefore important to respect a 1-month interval between SMC cycles in order to achieve a high level of protection and to minimize selection for malaria parasites resistant to SP + AQ.
The period of administration of SMC should be chosen to target the period when children are most at risk for malaria attacks. For example, SMC was delivered in August, September and October in field trials in Burkina Faso4 and Mali;5 while in Senegal;6 it was given in September, October and November, covering the period of highest risk for malaria.
3.2 When to implement it
Expected benefits of SMC
The WHO policy recommendation for SMC is based on the results of seven studies conducted in areas of highly seasonal malaria transmission in the Sahel and sub-Sahel regions of sub-Saharan Africa between 2002 and 2011.
Evidence from these studies suggests that SMC with SP + AQ administered monthly for up to 4 months during the malaria transmission season in children aged 3–59 months:
#10096; prevents approximately 75% of all malaria episodes;
#10096; prevents approximately 75% of severe malaria episodes;
#10096; may decrease child mortality by about 1 in 1000;
#10096; probably reduces the incidence of moderately severe anaemia;
#10096; does not result in an increase in clinical malaria cases in the subsequent malaria transmission season after 1 year of SMC, although the consequences of implementing SMC for several years have not yet been evaluated; and
#10096; no serious adverse events have been reported
3.9 Likely cost
Evaluation of the cost of delivering SMC in large field trials shows that the greatest costs are for delivering the drugs and the incentives paid to health workers. In The Gambia, the cost of SMC delivery by village health workers was estimated to be US$ 1.63 per child per year.
In Senegal, where SMC was delivered by community health workers paid a daily rate and supervised by the health post nurse, the overall cost at 46 health posts was estimated to be US$ 0.5 per child per month, or approximately US$ 1.50 per child per year. The cost of SMC is similar to those of other countries malaria control inte
For a population of 30 000 children < 5 years, the SMC drug supply required for 4 months to treat an estimated 30 000 x 0.95 = 28 500 children aged 3–59 months will be:
#10096; 30 000 x 4 = 120 000 SP tablets; and
#10096; 120 000 x 3 = 360 000 amodiaquine tablets.
ANNEXES
page 43 to 51 Extensive form filling - Excessive time - Repetitive - No database
The Director of Health Services, Dr Samba Ceesay,
According to Dr Ceesay, the benefits of SMC would not yield great results without the full support of regional governors, district chiefs, village heads and extension workers in mobilizing the communities to support the project.
As Director he is ultimately responsible for the entire programme & should ensure it works - the Ministry will already have had the funding…but he appears to have off-loaded some responsibility to those named above before ending the launching of the programme!
I wish them a successful three years.
http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/atoz/9789241504737/en/
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The world would be a poorer place if it was peopled by children whose parents risked nothing in the cause of social justice, for fear of personal loss. (Joe Slovo - African revolutionary) |
Edited by - sab on 23 Jan 2015 00:19:15 |
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toubab1020
12314 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2015 : 13:17:52
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Well spotted, thanks,I only commented on the information in the article,again politics ( Children between 3months & 59 months, ONLY  ) is at the forefront as with a great many seemingly good news items and money of course for the drugs companies etc. Happens everywhere.IF a workable vaccine was developed to prevent all malaria deaths what would the outlook for Africa and the world be then? You and I could fill pages on discussing this issue I am sure.
The weaknesses that you have discovered in your research into this article are excellent. Thanks.
Lets give it a few days and just see if this topic is ever to become a burning issue, in which many postings will be made on Bantaba in cyberspace. I wonder  |
"Simple is good" & I strongly dislike politics. You cannot defend the indefensible.
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Edited by - toubab1020 on 23 Jan 2015 13:24:00 |
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Malaria on the way out in Gambia ?
