Despite the significant efforts being made to address the food and nutritional consequences of the Sahel region crisis, several other diseases continue to kill including malaria. The risk of dying from malaria increases with degrading nutritional state in children under 5 years of age. Integrated malaria treatment is therefore required to significantly reduce mortality rates in children under 5.
Alima and BEFEN have been working in Niger since 2009. Currently they manage two medical nutrition programs targeting children under 5; the first in Dakoro, Maradi region, and the second in Mirriah, Zinder region. Zinder is the most malaria affected region in the country (WHO maps of malaria prevalence in Niger, 2010).
Alima and BEFEN teams are launching a new malaria diagnosis and treatment program in Mirriah to reduce its impact. Roughly 120,509 malaria cases were recorded in the area in 2010 and 93,000 in 2011.
For five months’ activities, the project is financed by the ELMA Relief Foundation (http://elmaphilanthropies.org/). Projections include treating 40,000 simple malaria cases confirmed by rapid testing, and 1,200 severe malaria cases requiring hospitalisation.