Regions:
- Dimbokro, N’zi region, Central Côte d’Ivoire
- Duékoué, Guémon region, Western Côte d’Ivoire.
Malaria, a disease forgotten in northern industrialized nations, continues to rise exponentially in deaths in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) shows that malaria deaths have risen every year. In many countries, some people spend several months a year ill from malaria, a toll that cripples economic productivity.
In addition to the human cost, malaria contributes to the slowing of overall economic growth and development. United Nations economists estimate malaria causes an economic growth penalty of up to 1.3 percent per year in the hardest hit West African nations such as Benin and Burkina Faso. So not only does malaria result in loss of life and lost productivity due to illness and premature death, it also hampers children’s schooling and social development through both absenteeism and can, in the most severe cases, cause permanent neurological problems and other medical disorders.
In 1998, the United Nations took the lead and helped to sponsor the global partnership, “Roll Back Malaria”. The partnership and the subsequent Abuja Declaration endorsed a series of productive, obtainable goals and measures to take place over several decades that will hopefully lead to the reduction of the number of malaria cases in half. Two of the main goals of the project are to get Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) and the use of Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) to those members of the population most in danger of contracting the disease.
The most cost effective and successful method of treatment for malaria is to prevent exposure to it. This is accomplished by the proper and consistent use of ITN and IRS. The mosquitoes that carry the Plasmodium falciparum, the most deadly form of the malaria virus, usually attack victims at night. By the proper use of ITN and IRS, the chance of exposure is virtually eliminated.
Objective
The IDHI, Inc. envisions an effective public health initiative in Africa where the human and socio-economic costs of disease do not exist anymore, where individuals have access to opportunity, capital and an education that allows them to make informed decisions affecting their own lives and the lives of those around them.
Malaria is a disease that has crippled the economic and social potential of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the United Nations project “Roll Back Malaria” and information provided by UNICEF:
- Malaria costs Africa more than twelve billion dollars every year in lost Gross Domestic Product (GDP) even though it can be controlled for a fraction of that sum;
- Of the three hundred million acute cases of malaria reported globally each year, resulting in over one million deaths, ninety percent occur in Africa, mostly in young children;
- Malaria accounts for twenty percent of Africa’s under-five mortality rate and ten percent of the continent’s overall disease burden;
- Malaria accounts for forty percent of the continent’s public health expenditures;
- Most malaria infections in Africa occur south of the Sahara, where countries lack the infrastructures and resources necessary to mount sustainable campaigns against malaria.
The West African region finds itself at a tremendous disadvantage in terms of reaching the goals set by the Abuja Declaration. In WHO’s “World Malaria Report 2009”, while the majority of Eastern African nations are reporting having obtained ITN coverage of fifty percent or greater, the West African nation of Côte d’Ivoire is reporting a coverage percentage of a mere twenty one percent, while Burkina Faso is reporting only a slightly better percentage of thirty four percent coverage, still well below United Nations expectations.
The choice of Côte d’Ivoire is based on the fact that the country is in greatest need and embodies a wide range of strengths currently available to the fledgling organization. While West Africa will eventually encompass the area in which the IDHI, Inc. will implement its programmes, the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire offers familiar ground in which to cultivate the organization’s future.
It is worth noting that through extensive research, the IDHI, Inc. has already established the most cost effective means of obtaining the necessary supplies and transportation to carry out the programme.
The IDHI, Inc. intends to engage in initiatives to promote health in the region. For example, through its “Netgain” initiative, the organization hopes to eradicate malaria by supplying, at no cost to the needy, Insecticide Treated Mosquito Nets and Indoor Residual Spraying. The IDHI, Inc. personnel, trained in the safe and proper use of said nets and spraying, will initially distribute nets and conduct spraying. The IDHI, Inc. will also provide training and instruction to members of the communities it serves on the safe and proper use of said nets and spraying, as well as ways to increase their effectiveness against malaria vectors.
It is anticipated that similar models will be utilized to improve access to maternal and child health services, sanitation and clean water, to people and communities in need.
Through the health initiatives of the IDHI, Inc., the organization will reduce otherwise preventable deaths and diseases, and promote the health of the communities it serves. Additionally, by providing no cost resources, such as the mosquito nets described above, the IDHI, Inc. will provide access to these resources, and relief to the poor, distressed and underprivileged.
The IDHI, Inc. health initiative will also accelerate the achievement of the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations. As the IDHI, Inc. provides instruction and training that develops the capabilities of individuals, and the communities it serves, the organization advances its educational purposes.