The Chife Foundation is excited to announce that the Anam Health Initiative is a recipient of International Funding from the Durango High Noon Rotary Club for 2012. The approved project is designed to combat malaria in Anam through targeted prevention and treatment approaches that are geared towards women and children in Anam.
The Malaria program will kick-off in early 2012 and be closely tied to an innovative data collection and tracking system. Our goal will be to measure the impact of the program and Rotary contribution, as well as to develop a network of health in the community.The program will also be launched along with the construction of the new Health Clinic and Centre in Anam City.
The Foundation’s Executive Director, Mrs. Gesare Chife (a registered nurse) will spearhead the project, and we plan to connect with other health organizations in the region, as well as the local Rotary chapter.
Former Chife Foundation Intern and Naturopathic Doctor, Dr. Julia Strickler of Austin Texas will also be involved as a technical consultant with the Initiative.
Between 300 million to 500 million people worldwide are infected with malaria annually, and of those 900,000 cases are fatal. In 2008, The World Health Organization estimated that every 45 seconds a child dies of malaria in Africa.
Residents of Anam report having malaria between one and four times annually. Of these infections, only a fraction of cases are treated with simple, inexpensive and proven therapies, because accessing these medications is difficult or costly. Insecticide-treated mosquito nets are a cheap and effective prevention method for the bite from the female Anopheles mosquito (the species that transmits malaria), yet few Anam residents sleep with a net. Local health surveys have indicated that children were the most vulnerable to the disease.
We will post updates on the program thorough the year.
Photo of the Chife Foundation implementing the health survey in Anam. This work lead to further research on Malaria prevention and treatment.
ANAM CITY Blog 