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Malaria in Aweil: Prevention is Key

Malaria continues to be a major health problem in South Sudan and the severity of its outbreaks is significantly exacerbated by the long-standing humanitarian crisis. According to latest available data a total of 4,064,662 cases were confirmed in the country in 2019 and more than 4,800 people are known to have died from the disease during the same year. Children under five years of age are most at risk. In order to increase their protection, MSF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, this year launched a program to prevent malaria in Aweil, the capital of South Sudan's Northern Bahr el Ghazal State. It is called seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) and its purpose is the to prevent infection and serious illness among children from 3 to 59 months by providing them with antimalarial medications once a month during the rainy season.

Preventing malaria is especially necessary as health facilities are poorly equipped to treat the thousands of children and adults who need care during the seasonal peak in malaria transmission from July to November. The region's local health facilities rely on international support for anti-malarial medications and tests, and these were in short supply during the peak season. The MSF-supported Aweil State Hospital is the only facility currently providing comprehensive health services to an estimated 1.2 million people in Northern Bahr el Ghazal. Successful implementation of SMC in Aweil reduces the individual health risks associated with malaria for each child in the target population, but it is not a silver bullet: distribution of mosquito nets, indoor residual spraying with insecticides or ensuring sanitation of stagnant water are all measures that have important role to play in preventing malaria, and malaria medications and tests must be available at the community level.

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