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Photo & Caption

Photo: Mahamadou Traoré, PSI

Rakiatou Touré, a new mother receiving post-natal care at a clinic in Kabara, Mali, is given an insecticide-treated net to protect her family from malaria.

Malaria is the number one killer of young children in Mali. To prevent contracting the disease, pregnant women and small children are advised to sleep under mosquito netting treated with insecticide. But many Malians who cannot afford the net have to go without.

USAID is working with the Government of Mali to increase the availability of insecticide-treated nets and improve the overall health of vulnerable populations. Under the initiative, pregnant women who receive prenatal care at USAID-supported health clinics and parents of fully vaccinated children under five receive a heavily subsidized family-size net as part of the package of services. They are also encouraged to have their most vulnerable family members — especially pregnant women and small children — sleep under the nets. The first tests — performed using prototypes assembled from materials costing about $1 per antenna — concluded that the antennas provided clear signal and a reliable Internet connection. To further reduce costs, the radio receivers were powered by cell phone chargers and mounted with the antenna directly on the antenna mast, eliminating the need to purchase expensive cabling to connect the antenna to the receiver.

The number of malaria cases in households that consistently use treated nets is expected to decrease as a result. But at the same time, there has been an unexpected increase in the number of women regularly attending prenatal care and the number of parents showing renewed efforts to fully vaccinate their children. The incentive of the nets appears to have spurred many more people to seek out health care for their families. If this dramatic trend continues, it will have a far greater impact on overall family health than the nets themselves could yield alone.

"Without this program I would never have been able to afford a net. Now I sleep well, and my kids aren't bothered by mosquito bites," said new mother Rakiatou Touré.

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