The Malaria Plan

At 2am, I finished the first draft of the Malaria Control and Prevention Program proposal! I expected it to take me at least a week to put together the 9-single spaced page proposal but after visiting the living quarters of the children yesterday, I was moved to do it in a single sitting. For the first time in my life, procrastination was not an issue. When I visited where the children stay, I met all of the house monitors (monitrice). There's one middle-aged mother-like figure in charge of each of the 20 homes. They are all roughly the same size, and hold anywhere from 17-46 children in each. There aren't enough matresses or sheets and the open cuts in the walls that act as windows for ventilation, do little to stop bugs and rain from entering the home. Carol, the monitor of the first house I visited, volunteered to take me around to all of the other houses to meet the other monitors and see what each home looked like. All of them need something. It' s so easy to get lost in all that needs to be done. The truth is, it's impossible to focus attention in just one area when even the most basic needs of the children are not yet being fully secured. We are short by $4,000/month, what it costs to provide the supper meal for the children. Without this meal that only costs US $0.24/child, the already malnourished children will be forced to go 17 hours between meals. With that, comes weaker immune systems, the onset of more sicknesses such as malaria, worms, dengue, TB and HIV. It's a vicious cycle that can only be stopped by attacking its roots.

Here is the abstract for the malaria program I've drafted. Please let me know if you know anyone who may be willing to help fund the project and or any opportunities for grants etc.

The primary objective of the Program will be to reduce as much as possible the health impact of malaria on the population of Vilaj Espwa and neighboring villages. One of the many goals of this prevention program will be to develop a model system for malaria control that can be applied throughout Haiti, where the disease is endemic, and that would be applicable to both children and adults. As our primary setting is contained, it is an ideal environment for this type of project. Data collection, medication administration and follow up can be assured. The malaria prevention program strategy will focus in on three areas. The first is case management (diagnosis and treatment) of all persons suffering from malaria. Malaria is often a debilitating disease that, when caused by Plasmodium falciparum,(the strain found in Haiti) can be fatal. Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) is indicated for all persons being treated for malaria and will prevent the onset of drug-resistant malaria. The second area includes the prevention of infection through vector control. Some vector control measures that will be undertaken include the destruction of larval breeding sites, insecticide spraying inside houses and insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), which combines vector control and personal protection. The above strategy will be applied through several components aimed at controlling this endemic scourge, including the development of a malaria case registry, the provision of anti-malarial drugs, provision of equipment and supplies (e.g., microscopes, drugs, bed nets), expert consultation from both local health care providers in Haiti and physicians from the US, disease reporting and surveillance, intensive training of the Espwa clinic health care workers on malaria diagnosis, treatment, follow-up and health education, where the communities are informed of what they can do to prevent and treat malaria.