Description:
"Approaches to expand malaria control interventions in areas of active conflict are
urgently needed. Despite international agreement regarding the imperative to
control malaria in eastern Burma, there are currently no large-scale international
malaria programmes operating in areas of active conflict. A local ethnic health
department demonstrated that village health workers are capable of implementing
malaria control interventions among internally displaced persons (IDPs). This
paper describes how these internally displaced villagers facilitated rapid expansion
of the programme.
Clinic health workers received training in malaria diagnosis and treatment,
vector control and education at training sites along the border. After returning to
programme areas inside Burma, they trained villagers to perform an increasingly
comprehensive set of interventions. This iterative training strategy to increase
human resources for health permitted the programme to expand from 3000 IDPs
in 2003 to nearly 40,000 in 2008.
It was concluded that IDPs are capable of delivering essential malaria control
interventions in areas of active conflict in eastern Burma. In addition, health
workers in this area have the capacity to train community members to take on
implementation of such interventions. This iterative strategy may provide a model
to improve access to care in this population and in other conflict settings..."
Keywords: internally displaced persons; village health workers; human rights;
human resources for health; malaria control
Source/publisher:
Global Public Health Vol. 00, No. 0,
Date of Publication:
2008-11-17
Date of entry:
2012-02-15
Grouping:
- Individual Documents
Category:
Language:
English
Local URL:
Format:
pdf
Size:
92.58 KB