PMI protects 700,000 Senegalese in malaria battle

Trained insecticide sprayers prepare to deploy in the village of Keur Moussa, near the border with The Gambia. Photo by Richard Nyberg, USAID/Senegal

Masked assailants moved swiftly from hut to hut, sweeping through entire villages and spraying lethal doses in a search-and-destroy mission.  But there was no cause for fear -- among humans, that is. The welcomed intruders blasted long-lasting insecticides on walls and ceilings to terminate the real killers in Senegal: mosquitoes.

The 275 men and women trained by USAID and armed with life-saving insecticide, were welcomed in Senegalese communities as part of the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) activities in the West African country.

"USAID is truly carrying out development for the people in fighting malaria, especially through indoor residual spraying,” says El Hadj Oumar Kane, the President of the health committee of the health post at Paoscoto in Senegal’s central Nioro district.

Results from this USAID-funded campaign to spray the indoor walls of homes in entire communities -- the first widespread malaria prevention activity of its kind in Senegal for over a half a century – show that nearly 700,000 Senegalese were less likely to contract malaria during the rainy season. 

In an indoor residual spraying (IRS) pilot activity launched in May and June 2007 in the districts of Nioro, Richard Toll, and Vélingara, sprayers treated 76,491 houses, protecting 680,934 people. The activity far surpassed its target of treating 75,000 houses to protect 500,000 people.

The spraying campaign used the chemical ICON (lambda-cyhalothrin), one of the World Health Organization approved insecticides for IRS.

“Without fully realizing it, USAID helps us to save money to pay for daily food and other family expenses,” adds El Hadj Oumar Kane. He says sick family members lose one or more days of income, have to rent a horse cart to transport them to the nearest health post.

“This year alone, I was able to save over $100 (50,000 F CFA) because no one got malaria. The spraying in my home also helped kill off other insects and make my home a cleaner place. You cannot imagine how much we benefit from this support.”

Indoor residual spraying is part of a comprehensive malaria program in Senegal funded through PMI, which also includes insecticide-treated bed nets for prevention, medical interventions to address malaria in pregnancy, and effective diagnosis and treatment of malaria with artemisinin-based combination therapies at both health facility and community levels. Senegal received $16.7 million in PMI assistance in 2007 and is expected to benefit from a similar level of funding each year through 2010.

The PMI is an interagency initiative led by USAID with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and host-country governments as key partners.  PMI seeks to help national malaria control programs cut malaria-related deaths by 50 percent in 15 countries in Africa by reaching 85 percent of the most vulnerable groups -- children under five years of age and pregnant women -- with proven prevention and treatment measures.

"What we seek in local partnerships in the fight against malaria is close collaboration among all actors for the effective implementation of our national strategic plan,” says Dr. Pape Moussa Thior, coordinator of the National Malaria Control Program.  “I must say that from this perspective, PMI plays its part perfectly."