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In April 2008, ChildAlive launched its Malaria Prevention Project
in Burkina Faso, West Africa, visiting 12 villages and distributing
445 insecticide-treated bed nets, 694 door curtains and 539 window
curtains.
Each of the villages with nets has appointed a representative who
will monitor net and curtain use over the next six months. In addition,
the local health agencies will keep ChildAlive informed of malaria
cases and mortality. With this information, we should be able to determine
the effectiveness of the net distribution effort and understand which
malaria protection method – bed nets or door and window curtains
– is the most likely to be used by the population.
Fundraising efforts are currently underway to purchase more nets and curtains for the next round of distribution.
 The Eliminating Epidemic Meningitis in Africa Project is unfolding in three stages:
- Develop, test and
license an affordable conjugate Meningitis A vaccine tailored to
meet Africa's needs.
- Current Status: Field tests of the MVP vaccine
are currently underway. Certification of the vaccine by the
World Health Organization is pending.
- Establish a mass
vaccination program in the country of Burkina Faso.
- Current Status: The first mass vaccination
campaign is scheduled in the fall of 2009. ChildAlive is helping
to raise the funds to purchase vaccines for the vaccination
program. In addition, the Research Council of Norway has granted
US$2 million to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health to
support the meningococcal carriage studies in Burkina Faso for
the next 2.5 years.
- Establish mass vaccination
programs to vaccinate people in the remaining 20 meningitis belt
countries.
- Current Status: The GAVI Alliance has indicated
its support for this final stage of the project.
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