Credits: Credits for the contents of the picture booklet: Communications for change The contents of this booklet can be used or adapted • USAID • ‘What you need to know about fistula’ picture book developed by Health Poverty Action MoHS and Mercy Ships. • Health Education Division • Livresda Malaria: Vamos Erradicar a Malaria! Escrito por Rachel Brooker e Mary DeCoster Editado por: Emma Hernnadez Traduzido por Celso J. Amaral Illustrado por Octavio Conslaves May 2009
The Story Fatmata is a Malaria Faith Champion. She was inspired to put her Faith into action to help her community. She has been trained to visit families at home and provide them with information on preventing malaria and staying healthy. The Families This story follows three families and what happens when Fatmata visits their community: • Marie and Abu are married couple and have two children. • Kadi is married to Mohamed and they have a 3 year old child named Lamin. Kadi is pregnant with their second child. • Isatu is married to Moses they have a young child named Joseph. How to Use the Book: 1. Read and learn the story before you conduct your visits; 2. Greet and welcome the listeners; 3. Hold up the booklet and ensure that the illustrations are clearly visible; 4. Go through the booklet content, page by page encouraging questions and discussion. 1
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Fatmata is a Malaria Faith Champion. She has come to visit Marie, Abu and their children at home to give them important information on protecting their family by preventing malaria. Marie and Abu are happy to listen and invite Fatmata into their home After the visit, Fatmata gives them a sticker to display on their door to show that the house has been visited. Discussion Point: Who is a Malaria Faith Champion (MFC)? Key Points to Remember: • A Malaria Faith Champion is someone who has had special training by faith leaders on teaching the community about malaria prevention • He/she volunteers to help families in their community by encouraging them to change their behaviour and adopt practices that prevent malaria.
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It is night-time, after the Fatmata’s visit. Marie and Abu have taken out their rectangular treated mosquito net and are hanging their net using ropes and nails. Discussion Point: How do you hang a mosquito net correctly? Key Points to Remember: • A rectangular net has 6 loops. • Use 6 nails and 6 ropes; secure the ropes to the wall or ceiling using the nails. • Show the family you are visiting how to correctly hang up a bed net
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Marie and Abu are sleeping under a mosquito net; their two children are sleeping on a mat under a second net. Marie has made sure that all the nets are tucked in before they go to sleep. Discussion Point: Why is it important to sleep under a Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Net (LITN) every night? Key Points to Remember: • Malaria causing mosquitoes bite mostly at night between the evening and morning hours and families can protect themselves by sleeping under a bed net. • Always remember to tuck the net under the mattress or mat.
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Marie is now able to show Kadi and Mohamed, her neighbours, how to hang their treated mosquito net. Kadi is pregnant and Marie knows how important it is for pregnant women and also young children to sleep under a treated net. Discussion Point: Why is it especially important for pregnant women and children under 5 to sleep under a net? Key Points to Remember: • Stress the importance of everyone sleeping under an LITN every night and tucking it in properly. • Children under 5 and pregnant women have the least resistance against malaria. • Malaria is leading cause of death of children under five in Sierra Leone. • If pregnant women catch malaria it can cause severe anaemia, miscarriage, stillbirth or giving birth to very small babies, which have lower chances of survival.
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Kadi and Mohamed are now sleeping under a treated net. Kadi has made sure their young son Lamin is also sleeping under a second treated net. Discussion Point: Stress the importance of treated nets again. As well as sleeping under a treated net, what else can pregnant women do to protect themselves against malaria? Key Points to Remember: • Make sure that the risks of Malaria in pregnancy (from the page 10) are understood, especially when talking to families with pregnant women and women who may have more children. • Pregnant women should go to the clinic for their antenatal checks and take the medicine they are given to prevent malaria during their pregnancy. • This medicine is called Intermittent Preventative Treatment (IPT) and is available free of charge at health facilities.
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Another family – Isatu, Moses and Joseph – are not sleeping under a treated mosquito net; they do not know how malaria is transmitted or how dangerous it can be. They do not know that sleeping under a net every night can prevent malaria. They are being bitten by mosquitoes. Discussion Point: What are the consequences of NOT sleeping under an LITN every night? Key Points to Remember: • Families who do not sleep under an LITN every night are more likely to catch malaria. • Families who suffer from malaria will not be healthy and happy or able to carry out their daily activities.
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Isatu has woken to find her child Joseph feels very hot and has a fever. He also refuses to eat. Fatmata visits the next day and explains these are symptoms of malaria and advises Isatu to take Joseph to the health centre immediately to get treatment. Discussion Point: What are the symptoms of malaria? Key Points to Remember: • Symptoms of malaria include: Headache, Fever, Chills, Loss of appetite, Vomiting and sometimes Diarrhoea. • Convulsions are also common in children with malaria. • Knowing the signs and symptoms of malaria can help families seek treatment early.
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Isatu and Moses go straight to the health centre with Joseph. Isatu is given medicine for Joseph by the health worker and told if she gives him all the medicine as advised he will soon get well. Once she begins giving him the medicine the fever stops and he soon gets his appetite back. Discussion Point: Why is it important to go immediately to the health centre and not wait a few days when a child has fever? Key Points to Remember: • Malaria is dangerous and can kill. • Fever is a sign of malaria. • Getting tested for malaria and early treatment prevent problems which can lead to death, especially in young children
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Isatu now has a fever so she goes to the health centre. She is given anti-malarial medicine to take. She begins to feel better soon after taking the medicine but continues to take the full course of medicine given to her by the health worker. Discussion Point: Why is it important to continue taking the medicine even if you feel better? Key Points to Remember: • It is important to take the full course of medicine prescribed by the health worker as even if you feel better the parasite might still be in your system, the disease could then return. • Taking the full course of treatment will cure the disease.
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Moses now feels unwell; he has chills and a fever. He says he doesn’t have enough time to go to the clinic as he needs to plant rice on the farm. He wants to use some of his wife’s medicine but Isatu explains he must go to the clinic to get the correct treatment. Discussion Point: What should you do if one of your family has malaria? Key Points to Remember: • Encourage them to go to the health facility for treatment. • It is important to take the full course of medicine given by the health worker. • Malaria medicine given to one person should not be shared by other family members.
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Marie is washing her net with soap, hanging it to dry in the shade and mending holes in the net. Discussion Point: How should you wash the net? Key Points to Remember: • Use mild soap but only wash the net when it is dirty, for example every 3 – 6 months. • Washing the net too frequently or scrubbing the net too vigorously will wash out the chemicals that repel the mosquitoes. • Leave the net to dry in the shade • Repair any rips or tears in the net with a needle and thread
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All the families are working together to tackle the malaria breeding sites in their village. They burn all the old tyres, empty cups and broken bottles. They clear the gutters and fill in all the places where water collects and stands. Discussion Point: Why is it important to burn or bury tyres and other rubbish where water collects in the village or compound and fill in areas with standing water? Key Points to Remember: • Mosquitoes breed in standing water. • Keep your compound and village clean to prevent mosquitoes breeding to protect your family from malaria.
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Fatmata has visited Marie and Abu a few times; the whole family sleeps under a treated net every night. They have removed all the rubbish from their compound and have filled in the holes in the ground which collected water too. They make sure that if anyone in the family has a fever they go straight to the health centre for treatment and take all the medicine as advised by their health worker. Marie knows to advise pregnant women in her community to go to the health centre for a free treated net and for IPT (Intermittent Preventative Treatment) for malaria. Fatmata is really proud of them; she signs their Certificate to show they are preventing malaria. Discussion Point: How do you earn a Faiths Act to prevent Malaria certificate? (Answer: Families who followed the 5 key messages)
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5 Key Messages: 1. Sleep under a Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Net every night, giving priority to pregnant women and children under 5; 2. Clean your compound and keep the environment clean and free from mosquito breeding sites; 3. Encourage pregnant women to attend antenatal to receive free LITN and Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) of malaria; 4. Seek treatment immediately at a health centre If you have fever or other symptoms of malaria; 5. Take all the malaria medicines you are given, even if you start to feel better and don’t share them.
in Sierra Leone is a project brought to you by:
Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone