Africa Malaria Day, Jhpiego focus efforts on combating the serious threat of malaria in pregnancy
Statement from Jhpiego President and CEO Dr. Leslie Mancuso
25 April 2006
Malaria is among the most important global health issues of our time. Each
year, 300 million cases of malaria occur worldwide leading to one million deaths; 90
percent of those cases occur in Africa. In honor of Africa Malaria Day on 25 April 2006,
Dr. Leslie Mancuso, Jhpiego President and CEO, addresses the effects of malaria in pregnancy
and the organization's commitment to reducing the high number of maternal and newborn deaths
in Africa due to the disease:
"Mosquitoes are considered a nuisance in America, but they have proven
deadly in Africa. I have just returned from East Africa where I had the opportunity to
encourage the dialogue amongst our local partners and policymakers on addressing the
burden of this disease in Kenya’s malaria-endemic regions and beyond. Specifically,
Jhpiego is concerned with the serious threat malaria poses to the health of pregnant
women and newborns. It can lead to maternal anemia and impaired fetal growth—two of the
leading causes of low birth weight and poor survival for newborns and infants in Africa.
Malaria can also cause miscarriage, still birth and premature birth. Jhpiego's pilot
programs in Kenya and Tanzania have shown that linking prevention and treatment of malaria
with focused antenatal care is key to improved maternal and newborn outcomes in
malaria-endemic areas.
"The good news is, malaria during pregnancy can be prevented, reduced
and managed with low-cost interventions. Jhpiego promotes the use of intermittent
preventive treatment (IPT) and insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) as part of its
focused antenatal care (ANC) approach and as a means of reducing the risk of malaria.
Because the majority of women in developing countries visit an antenatal care clinic at
least once during pregnancy, ANC is a great platform for implementing interventions for
preventing and managing malaria during pregnancy.
"As a global organization dedicated to improving health care for women
and families in low-resource areas, Jhpiego has been a longstanding partner with the
World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control, USAID, national ministries
of health and local NGOs in Africa to promote the technical solutions to this disease
and ensure effective implementation of the new malaria policies and guidelines. We also
approach the problem through education within Africa’s health care system.
"Jhpiego, in collaboration with multiple Roll Back Malaria partners, helped
to launch the Malaria in Pregnancy East and Southern Africa (MIPESA) Coalition and the West
Africa Network for Malaria in Pregnancy (RAOPAG). With funding from USAID, Jhpiego continues
to provide ongoing technical support to MIPESA and RAOPAG by supporting the networks to
build country-level expertise through development of trainers, providers and managers.
Jhpiego also revises training curricula to include the most up-to-date best practices
and guides social mobilization efforts to educate communities on how to protect the
women and children in their villages from malaria.
"It was so encouraging to see and hear the difference our programs
are making in the fight against malaria in Kenya and in the other 13 countries in
Africa where we work. The health care professionals and the Ministries of Health
are committed to overcoming the challenges the programs face, from distributing bed
nets to implementing new policies. With continued support, we can reduce maternal
and newborn mortality due to malaria."
Dr. Leslie Mancuso is available to discuss the global women's health
crisis and Jhpiego's programs to combat malaria in pregnancy in Africa.
About Jhpiego
For 35 years, Jhpiego, (pronounced "ja-pie-go"), has empowered front-line health
workers by designing and implementing simple, low-cost, hands-on solutions that
strengthen the delivery of health care services, following the
household-to-hospital continuum of care. We partner with community- to
national-level organizations to build sustainable, local capacity through
advocacy, policy and guidelines development, and quality and performance
improvement approaches.
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