Togo
Malaria and AIDS prevention in Togo (action medeor)
According to the WHO, every 30 seconds a child dies of malaria. In Togo, 25 % of all deaths of children under five are malaria related. Only few organizations in Togo have dedicated themselves to fight malaria and in general they lack resources. The health system is very weak, as there are less than one doctor, pharmacist and nurse per 1.000 inhabitants.
Since 1999, action medeor is in touch with the partner organization Amitié et Action pour le Développement (2AD) and has helped them to realize projects for malaria and AIDS prevention. After having successfully finished one project, action medeor and 2AD started a further cooperation in 2007 to train the inhabitants of 50 communities. Action medeor financed the project while 2 AD was responsible for the implementation.
The objective of the project was to carry out awareness trainings about malaria and AIDS and to show possibilities of prevention and treatment. For this reason the local partner trained four project assistants per region and five multipliers per community. The main components of the project are awareness raising events, discussions and video performances as well as the distribution of mosquito nets. The population was informed about how to destroy the breeding sites of mosquitoes as well as to give them an overview about prevention and control measures – for instance how to use insecticide treated nets. The focus was put on women and children. Within the project, 10.000 insecticide treated nets were sold for a very subsidized price (0.76 €/net).
During the project, the community members were integrated into the awareness training: Five persons of each community, among them the chief, a representative of a women organization and of the youth as well as representatives of local health stations were trained as multipliers for malaria and AIDS prevention.
The project ran for 24 months and all 250 persons could be trained and provided with flyers, posters and a video produced by 2AD. Because of the great success, a follow up project is already planned.
