Post on 02-Jan-2016
Faith Leaders in Public health messaging on malaria
Faiths Act project- TBFFHDP meeting 28th June 2012
Introduction/ Background
• Overall aim• Objectives
1. Reach 100,000 households with messages of malaria prevention by June 2012.
2. Demonstrate the practical impact of interfaith public health messaging.
• Why Malaria? • Why Faith leaders?
Preparation
Launch Workshop
Development of materials and tools
Involvement of partners
Support of Key Stakeholders (First
Lady of Sierra Leone)
Background literature on recent
and current projects
Model
A Malaria Faith Ambassador (MFA) is recruited and Trained
MFA trains up to 30 community volunteers Malaria Faith Champions (MFC)
MFC 1st visits 20 households to educatefamilies
MFC 2nd visits 20 households 1 month later to certify compliant households
Messaging at community events, including during
sermons & khutbahs
5 key messages of Malaria prevention
1. Sleep under insecticide treated bed net every night, giving priority to pregnant women and children under five.
2. Clean compound, clearing all rubbish mosquito breeding sites(stagnant water, tins, cans, bottles, plastic bags, old tyres, etc)
3. Encourage all pregnant women to attend antenatal care at qualified health worker and get treatment to prevent malaria.
4. Recognise signs and symptoms of malaria and seek medical attention immediately
5. Take complete dose of treatment prescribed, even if you feel better; Do not share it
Tools
MFA tool kitPicture book
Certificate/ score card Household stickers
(recently used for coverage)
Simple, practical but effective
Progress/ updates
• 240 Faith leaders trained as Malaria Faith Ambassadors
• 6, 328 community volunteers trained as Malaria Faith Champions
• 127,819 first household visits
• Over 210,000 people in wider community
Challenges/ lessons learnt
• Expectations of volunteers• Upcoming Distractions• Initial recruitment had no set
criteria• Maintaining the enthusiasm
after MFA active role• Area to cover is large• Rural vs Urban
• Demonstrating impact needs planning, strategy and collaboration
Way Forward
• Independent evaluation by IPSOS/MORI and local partner.
• Long term Sustainability • Replicating the model • Adapting the model
Conclusion
• Project has successfully harnessed messaging power of faith leaders to educate communities on malaria prevention
• Project has potential to tackle other relevant health aspects like MCH and diseases related to sanitation.
Thank you for listening
Questions?