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2006-05-17
Eradicating Malaria in Guinea
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Alcoa Foundation has been working in Guinea with non-government organizations (NGOs) to help eradicate malaria in the country. During a recent visit to Guinea by a Fact Finding Mission sponsored by Alcoa Foundation, doctors and professors took the initiative to collect enough funds to donate a supply of insecticide-treated mosquito bed nets to Boké Regional Hospital.
Malaria infection is the number one cause of death for children younger than five in the country, and is a major cause of lost workdays and diminished productivity for the Guinean economy.
The Alcoa Foundation-sponsored team was sent to evaluate the existing health systems in Guinea and to develop a report on how Alcoa can work toward eliminating or reducing the impact of malaria in the Boké region, according to Jerome Maxwell, president, Alcoa Caribbean and Africa. During their visit, they noticed that some of the hospital beds did not have insecticide-treated bed nets.
“While the team was in Guinea, they recognized a need and arranged for this donation,” Maxwell said.
During a small ceremony, an Alcoa Guinea representative delivered the insecticide-treated bed nets donated by the Fact Finding Mission. This donation will help protect patients from malaria carrying mosquitoes, thus preventing malaria contamination throughout the hospital. The ceremony was attended by the governor’s office, the secretary general, the regional and prefectoral directors of health, the director of Boké Regional Hospital, and the Lower Guinea director of Mines and Geology.
For the past two years, Alcoa Foundation has been working with Population Services International to fight malaria in Boke prefecture. PSI has collaborated with the Guinean Ministry of Health, USAID, and EngenderHealth, to link malaria prevention to other maternal and child health activities, such as child immunizations, thus broadening the scope and effectiveness of its anti-malaria efforts.
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