Fighting malaria in Senegal:

Drive to re-treat 100,000 bednets under way

U.S. Ambassador Janice Jacobs (left) and Deputy Governor Baba Ly treat bednets in the Cité Lamy district of Thiès on September 22. Photo: R. Nyberg, USAID

THIES, Senegal, September 25, 2006 – The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its partners in Senegal have launched an aggressive new campaign to stop mosquitoes dead in their tracks just as the population braces for this season’s onslaught of malaria ushered in by heavy rains.

USAID’s latest assault on malaria-carrying mosquitoes this year was launched on September 22, when U.S. Ambassador Janice L. Jacobs and the Deputy Governor of the Thiès Region, Baba Ly, stepped up to the basin and treated bednets with insecticide.

With the cameras rolling, the Ambassador, the Deputy Governor, USAID/Senegal Director Olivier Carduner and Ministry of Health officials each added a button-sized insecticide tab to a half liter of water, shaking it to get an even mix. Wearing masks and plastic gloves, they poured the insecticide over the white, blue, and pink nets and massaged the solution by hand into the fabric before laying the nets out flat to dry.

When the official visitors finished treating nets, others took their places at the plastic basins. This scene will be replayed over and over by thousands of Senegalese with treatment kits subsidized by the American people. The minimal contribution by the Senegalese families will help cover costs of voluntary health educators so they can continue raising awareness of health risks at the community level.

The nets dipped on September 22, all belonging to pregnant women, were among the first of 100,000 bednets that will be treated by the end of November in the regions of Kaolack, Kolda, Louga, Thiès, and Ziguinchor. Senegalese are being mustered to bring their nets to re-treatment activities like the one held in Thiès before the end of the rainy season when malaria infection is the greatest.

“Everyone knows what a terrible burden malaria is on the economy and the lives of every family in Senegal,” Ambassador Jacobs told several hundred Thiès residents gathered at the launch ceremony. “Sleeping under a treated bednet will kill the mosquito and protect not only the person sleeping under the net but will prevent that mosquito from biting anyone else in the house as well. This is why it is especially important that pregnant women and children, who are more at risk from malaria, always sleep under an insecticide-treated bednet.”

Urging Senegalese citizens to follow her lead and spread the word on the importance of sleeping under a bednet, she challenged the crowd: “Today was the first time I have had the opportunity to treat a bednet, and it was very easy to do. If I can do it, you can do it, too.” One of the nets she treated belonged to Monique Ndione, a 35-year-old mother of three children who is expecting a fourth. Beaming, a grateful Ndione said if her baby is a girl she will name it after the Ambassador.

According to Deputy Governor Ly, malaria poses a “major health problem” in Senegal – the number-one killer that also accounts for 35% of all cases at health facilities. “Children under five years of age and pregnant women pay the biggest price in this disease,” he said, noting that the ceremony is an illustration of the community’s strong engagement to fight disease. He urged “massive use” of insecticide-treated bednets to beat back malaria in his region.

Deputy Mayor Oumar Diagne thanked the Ambassador for this “extraordinary and important gesture” in re-treating the bednets. “Rest assured that the people of Thiès will turn out in large numbers to re-treat their mosquito nets. It is my hope that there will soon be insecticide-treated nets in every household,” he said, adding that the regional government plans to distribute 10,000 nets free of charge to the people of Thiès.

To carry out the re-treatment campaign, USAID is working with a consortium of nongovernmental organizations led by Christian Children’s Fund (CCF) that includes Africare, Plan International, and World Vision.

Monique Ndione of Thiès encourages other pregnant women to have their bednets re-treated with insecticide. Photo: R. Nyberg, USAID

An insecticide-treated bednet is an important tool in preventing malaria. USAID/Senegal has encouraged greater use of bednets over the past several years. Largely as a result of USAID-supported social marketing and voucher programs to promote their use, the percentage of Senegalese children sleeping under a treated bednet increased from 5% in 2000 to 24% in 2004. And among pregnant women, treated net use also rose, from 5% in 2000 to 31% in 2004. About 38% of households in the country owned at least one bednet in 2005, with a higher percentage in rural areas.

Next Steps: more assistance from the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI)
Retreating bednets is one of several activities in Senegal that the U.S. Government will support over the next three years. In June 2006, First Lady Laura Bush announced that Senegal would join six other African nations as focus countries for the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). The goal of the $1.2 billion initiative is to halve the number deaths caused by malaria within three years and achieve 85% coverage of vulnerable groups such as children under five, pregnant women, and people living with HIV/AIDS.

PMI activities in Senegal will also include indoor residual spraying, preventative care for pregnant women, and prompt treatment with the new artemesinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). These drugs are available in health facilities and community health huts and are supported by training, information and education campaigns to improve access to care.