WorldView Magazine - Fall 2009 - (Page 11)

Health NEW HOPE AND LESSONS FROM RWANDA Faith-based and community organizations tackle the scourge of malaria by John M. Bridgeland aybe hope does spring eternal. Fifteen years ago, Rwanda was home to one of the worst genocides of the century, resulting in the slaughter of one million Tutsi. Today, Rwanda is one of the safest countries in Africa and is saving thousands of lives from a fully preventable and treatable disease, malaria. In our recent 12-day trip to Rwanda on behalf of the United Nations Special Envoy for Malaria and the newly created Center for Interfaith Action Against Global Poverty, I saw ingredients of a global health recipe for success and met a Peace Corps Volunteer doing critical work in a remote village. M The purpose of our trip was to examine the roles of faith-based and community institutions in combating malaria. Ultimately, the judgments that result in life or death occur in the “umudugudu” or the village and the home. Rwanda, like many Sub-Saharan countries where malaria is endemic, possesses all of the tools to combat malaria: the regular indoor spraying of homes and the draining of water from places where it gathers outdoors to reduce mosquito populations; longlasting, insecticide-treated bed nets that protect families who sleep under them at night from the deadly bite of a mosquito by killing the mosquitoes upon contact; miracle drugs called ACTs that cure malaria; and perhaps, most important, the knowledge of what to do if a child or family member shows symptoms of a disease that is needlessly killing nearly one million people and infecting up to 300 million worldwide every year. In our meeting with the Minister of Health, one of the most sophisticated public officials in Africa, he said, “We will meet the 2010 and 2015 goals, if we get the community health-based systems right.” The UN Secretary General has set the goal of universal coverage of malaria interventions— nets, spray, drugs—by the end of 2010 and ending malaria deaths altogether John Rae 2008 a woman in Bagamoyo district, Tanzania, worries over her malaria-infected daughter at a local clinic. WorldView ©

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of WorldView Magazine - Fall 2009

WorldView Magazine - Fall 2009
Contents
President's Letter
Your Turn
Are You Connected Yet? Join Africa Rural Connect
Group News Highlights
Why Investment in Health Is Critical Now
New Hope and Lessons from Rwanda
Turning a Blind Eye
A Question of Capacity
CN U HLP ME? I HAVE A ??
When Water and Sanitation Are a Priority
Could “Peace Care” Lessen the Global Burden of Disease?
One, Two, Three
Translating International Health to Health Care at Home
Turning Tragedy to Opportunity
Costa Rica: Finding My Religion
St. Lucia: Learning about Hunger
Seven Dusty Notebooks
Peace Corps Service 2.0
The Peace Corps Community Making a Difference
Community News
Advertiser Index

WorldView Magazine - Fall 2009

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