Health workers and community leaders in Salima have hailed the Breakthrough Action Project for reducing malaria incidences in the district.
Breakthrough ACTION is a partnership led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs in collaboration with Save the Children, ThinkAction, ideas42, Camber Collective, International Center for Research on Women, and Viamo.
The project is aimed at empowering people through capacity building as far as health issues are concerned.
Salima District Malaria Coordinator, Frank Lizi, said the number of malaria cases has dropped through the initiative.
“Malaria is the number one killer, and we are working hand in hand to minimize it,” said Lizi.
Senior Chief Maganga applauded the project, saying its intervention has helped reduce the incidences of the disease in his area.
“There is also a need to continue supporting us,” said Maganga.
One of the beneficiaries, Dauda Lacks, said that people along the lakeshore areas are now aware of the importance of using mosquito nets appropriately.
“In the first place, we were not focused on this issue, but through the intervention of Breakthrough Action, things have improved,” Lacks said.
Breakthrough Action Project Manager, Victor Kadzenje, said on Wednesday that the project has achieved a lot ‘by strengthening the local and social factors that affect malaria mismanagement’.
The project cost about $90,000.
With its success, Breakthrough Action hopes to extend its activities to other parts of the district and eventually to other areas in Malawi
