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Volunteering for the fight against malaria in Yemen

WHO has joined forces with King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre to support malaria prevention and control efforts across the country

Under a blazing midday sun in the Tur Al-Baha district of Yemen's Lahj Governorate, Emtiaz Faisal has been moving from one village to another, carrying her bag and safety box to screen for malaria cases and educate local residents about control and prevention of the disease.

Each week, Emtiaz goes to a village, visiting 10 to 12 houses. Starting at 7 a.m, she walks for one to two hours to reach villages, and over the weeks, she has covered 11 villages in the area. “The region where we live has hard-to-reach areas, and sometimes it takes me a long time to reach the distant villages, but my dedication and passion for serving my community sustains me through this journey,” she says. Emtiaz, 25, has two children, and her husband is unable to find a steady income. Despite her economic difficulties, she still volunteers to serve her community.

“I work in community health to educate the community about malaria,”she continues. “We go from house to house to check on how malaria is transferred and monitor if there are suspected malaria cases. We educate the community on how to monitor cases and protect against malaria.”

Emtiaz and other volunteers like her explain to residents that there are a number of reasons why malaria is a problem in their communities – environmental factors, lack of precautions and awareness, and lack of access to health facilities. The volunteers are among those in Yemen who are trying to contain the spread of malaria, despite the multiple crises that engulf the country.

After seven years of conflict in Yemen, nearly 20 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. The country is barely surviving, and the population’s already dire circumstances have become even more serious with the emergence of infectious diseases that have caused an unprecedented deterioration in health and humanitarian conditions. During the first half of 2020, once-in-a generation flooding devastated southern Yemen communities and fueled the spread of deadly diseases including cholera, dengue, malaria, and diphtheria. According to the 2020 World Malaria Report, an estimated 18.8 million people in Yemen are living in areas at risk for malaria transmission, generating an estimated one million cases per year.

In an effort to control and prevent spread of malaria in Yemen, the World Health Organization (WHO) last year joined forces with the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief). With funding provided by KSrelief, the partners established the Malaria Control and Prevention Project, which supports the national response to malaria control through case management trainings, vector control, surveillance and program management, including technical assistance for capacity building on national and subnational levels. The project also supports strengthening malaria diagnosis and treatment at public health facilities and at the community level. Further, it assists in the scaling up of malaria control and Integrated Vector Management (IVM) in all Yemen districts that are malaria-endemic and prone to epidemics.

“If I encounter a suspected case, I conduct a test for confirmation using the malaria rapid diagnostic tests,” says Emtiaz. “Then I give them the necessary medicines and advise them of the action that needs to be taken immediately. If the case is critical, I refer them to the closest health facility.”
“I’m thankful for the training that I received and for the testing equipment,”Emtiaz adds. “I used to have no knowledge about how to detect and test suspected cases, how to educate the community about the risks of this disease, and how to protect against malaria by using bed nets, following proper hygiene, covering windows, and taking other malaria protection and prevention measures.”

As part of the malaria project, WHO, in partnership with KSrelief, has implemented vector control and indoor residual spraying campaigns in 13 governorates, reaching 5,424,381 people. Three main vector control interventions included space fogging, entomological surveillance, and community awareness to enhance detection and management of mosquitoes breeding sources.

“We have now witnessed the impact of community education,” says Emtiaz. “We can see positive changes within these communities because of the awareness we are spreading. When we go to the communities, we are always welcomed, and people are willing to apply the measures that we taught them. I’m very grateful for the change I have witnessed, and I thank WHO and KSrelief for their support of public health.”

Story: Laila Asda, Kevin Cook / WHO-Yemen

Photos: Nessma Khan, Omar Nasr, Kevin Cook / WHO-Yemen

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Laila Asda
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