SummaryIn an effort to reduce the incidence of malaria in villages in Northern Senegal, PCVs Lauren Canton and Jaime Bodden conducted a mosquito net distribution in four villages in the Department of Podor. Through collaboration with Against Malaria and Price Waterhouse Cooper, Peace Corps volunteers raised money to purchase 1,140 mosquito nets to distribute in the villages of Diambo, Ngaolé, Fondé Ass and Gourmel on August 16-18, 2009. The goal was to ensure that every person living in each village would be able to sleep healthily and peacefully under a mosquito net, with the overall intention of reducing the occurrence of malaria. Malaria is a major health concern in Senegal, particularly during the rainy season. It is the most common cause of death among children under 5 years old. Sleeping under a mosquito net is a necessary effort to eradicate malaria.
Context
This project began due to a rapport created by former 3rd year PCV Kris White and Against Malaria, the NGO that sponsored the distribution in its aim to decrease malaria through mosquito net distributions. Peace Corps Senegal is motivated to reduce malaria as it is a major health concern and the most common cause of death among children under 5. Sleeping under a mosquito net is a necessary approach in the effort to eradicate malaria. There is a lack of mosquito nets in northern Senegal, and most families do not have enough nets for every family member to sleep under at night. The goal of the net distributions was to ensure that 100% of the population in the target villages would sleep under mosquito nets.
The mosquito net beneficiaries are families in villages who can not afford mosquito nets or do not have access to a vendor. Located on the Senegal River off of the main road, these villages are remote and poor. The population consists of farmers and herders who rely on crop yield as a means of income. Steady income is fickle, resulting in minimal funds to buy mosquito nets. However, because of the high rates of malaria and abundance of mosquitoes, mosquito nets are a basic health necessity. Peace Corps is committed to working to give every person in Senegal the ability to sleep healthily and peacefully under a mosquito net through free net distributions.
PCVs played a crucial role by developing a rapport with the villages, working closely with village health workers, and facilitating the collaboration with Against Malaria. PCVs created individual pages on the Against Malaria website where family and friends could log on to donate money. Every $2.00 donated purchased a mosquito net. Price Waterhouse Cooper, a company that partners with Against Malaria, also raised funds which contributed to the purchase and transportation fees of the mosquito nets. In addition, Price Waterhouse Cooper sent 9 of their employees to Podor to work as volunteers during the distribution. Local village health workers were also key partners by conducting the pre-distribution household visits with PCVs to compile the beneficiary list and malaria incident data. They also worked on distribution days.
The Approach
 Pre-distribution activities include malaria causeries, neem lotion trainings, mosquito net impregnations, meetings with village leaders and health workers and household visits. Household visits were conducted to compile a list of every sleeping space in need of a net and the individuals responsible for the net assigned to that space.
During the distribution, health workers and volunteers used the compiled list of beneficiaries to distribute the mosquito nets. The name of the net recipient was written in permanent marker on every net in order to reduce the chances of reselling on the black market.
Resources included the mosquito nets which were purchased and shipped through Against Malaria and funded by donations from PCV friends and family and Price Waterhouse Cooper. Labor was supplied by volunteer village health workers (including relais, matrones, health committee presidents, school directors), PCVs and Price Waterhouse Cooper volunteers.
Results
The goal of the mosquito net distribution was to provide 100% mosquito net coverage within the target village population with the ultimate goal of reducing the occurrence of malaria. Through careful planning, calculations, and household visits, this goal was accomplished. Malaria incidents for the year prior to the distribution were calculated, and PCVs intend to monitor malaria incidents until August 2010 to determine if the net distribution was effective in reducing the spread of malaria.
Next Steps
 In order to evaluate the mosquito net distribution’s effectiveness in reducing malaria in target villages, malaria cases will be monitored for one year following the distribution. Challenges that persist include ensuring that the individuals who received mosquito nets are in fact sleeping under them every night and that they have not sold them on the black market, given them to others, or used them as fishing nets. In order to monitor mosquito net usage, PCVs and local health workers will conduct home visits to confirm families are properly using the nets
As the beneficiaries of the mosquito net project, villagers were grateful and relieved to be receiving this preventative health product. Suffering from frequent mosquito bites and high rates of malaria will be reduced. If less people contract malaria, villagers will be able to save time and money they had previously spent on health consultations and medicine.
The mosquito net distribution project is a practical and successful effort to reduce malaria and a feasible project to emulate, especially due to the crucial collaboration with Against Malaria. 100% mosquito net coverage is a highly effective method of working to eradicate malaria in Senegal.
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