BED NETS INSTALLATION CAMPAIGN TO FIGHT MALARIA IN GHANA

The Adakum Educational Foundation (www.admef.org) is embarking on an ambitious project that aims to make a substantial impact on malaria prevention in Ghana. Our initiative focuses on acquiring and installing treated mosquito nets in the homes of school children across the nation, beginning with the L&A Academy school community in Mallam, Accra, the capital of Ghana.

Campaign Slogan: “DON’T JUST GIVE THE NETS; HANG THEM UP!”

• The objective of this project is to improve the capacity of the school children, their parents, and communities to maintain mosquito-free sleeping surroundings and significantly reduce malaria-related deaths.
• Unlike the current clinic distribution methods, the bed nets distribution will be done in the schools, and technical assistance will be offered in the form of volunteers to visit the homes to help install the right types of nets for the families.
• Unit Cost: $11 per net (includes, net, sprays, volunteer stipend, and accessories to hang up the net).
• Average family requires 3 bed nets (assumes 2 people will sleep under one net) Foundation will engage teachers in the elementary schools in Ghana to form an organization to be called “Teachers Against Malaria Epidemic (TAME)”, to continue the work throughout the country.

PROBLEM DEFINITION

• Giving bed nets with instructions in English, French and Chinese, to families who cannot read or write does not help them.
• Bed nets are distributed, “unannounced”, at community clinics that treat poor mothers and their children; it is by sheer luck that one gets the net.
• One bed net is given to a mother without regard to the number of siblings and other family members in the household.
• No determination is made to see if the mothers have the means to install them
• No consideration is given to the fact that majority of Africans young boys and girls sleep on floor mats, and those who sleep on beds, have no bed posts to hang nets.No determination is made to see if the mothers have the means to install them
• Many adults hold strong superstitions about sleeping under those white colored nets; they claim to see ghosts, or shadows standing over them when they awake from sleep. Other colored nets must be considered.