FHI - With Support from Hershey’s, FHI Strengthens Malaria Prevention in Issia Health District

JANUARY 2010—A partnership between Family Health International and The Hershey Company that focuses on preventing malaria is improving the health of families in cocoa-growing regions of Côte d'Ivoire.

Working in concert with the National Malaria Program and other donors, FHI has been managing the distribution of insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) in 10 villages in the Issia Health District, an area previously receiving no malaria-prevention support.

In one year the partnership has distributed 3,000 insecticide-treated bednets to households with pregnant women and young children. Recipients have also been taught how to use and re-treat the bednets, while community health workers have been trained to evaluate the distribution and use of ITNs.

In November, FHI was awarded an additional $75,000 from The Hershey Company to continue working in malaria prevention among cocoa-farming communities in Côte d’Ivoire. The new grant allows FHI to strengthen these efforts. Two villages—Brobreguhe and Gbolihoa—will receive ITNs and learn how to properly use them. Villagers will also learn the signs and symptoms of malaria and how to seek proper treatment and reduce mosquito-breeding grounds. Complementing this education in environmental hygiene and sanitation, the project is providing minimal cleaning equipment—wheelbarrows, rakes, and brooms—in each village and organizing 24 “cleaning days” in each to reduce accumulated trash and standing water where mosquitoes breed.

The goal is to distribute ITNs to at least 85 percent of households in the two villages, organize 60 educational sessions on their proper use and on environmental hygiene, and reduce the number of malaria cases presenting at the two health centers from 680 to 544.

"By partnering with FHI's efforts to prevent malaria, The Hershey Company is helping to fight a disease that is one of the world's leading causes of death of young children," said FHI Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Albert J. Siemens. "Hershey's commitment to educating the community and distributing insecticide-treated bed nets to thousands of households is an investment in the future of Africa that not only saves lives, but also offers hope and opportunity for vulnerable families throughout the region."

PHOTO: Dr Semdé from FHI/Côte d'Ivoire (in red) poses with Ms Araba, Mr Mikossopor, and Mr. Doyen, representatives of Vestergaard Frandsen, the company which supplies the insecticide-treated bednets FHI distributes in Côte d'Ivoire with support from The Hershey Company.