In Summary Covid-19 has caused oxygen shortages around the world. Direct Relief is providing more than $20 million in medical aid and funding to increase access to this vital resource. The consortium CAF-Africa, anchored by $10 million in funds from Direct Relief, has distributed more than 121 million units of PPE across the continent. In […]
The Covid-19 Action Fund for Africa (CAF-Africa) is providing nearly 40 million additional pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) to community health workers (CHWs) in 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The self-organized collaborative effort among 30 organizations was formed in 2020, anchored by $10 million in funding from Direct Relief. Since its inception, the initiative […]
A Crisis of Care: Sexual and Reproductive Health Competes for Attention Amid Conflict and Displacement in Mali
Format
Introduction
National healthcare systems rarely prioritize sexual and reproductive health (SRH). This is a challenge for women and girls worldwide, including in Mali. There, nearly a decade of conflict has created a protracted humanitarian crisis, decimating the healthcare system and limiting the availability of SRH services. Meanwhile, political uncertainty following a coup in August 2020 has focused international efforts on addressing security and stabilization, at the expense of humanitarian needs. The lack of donor funding has exacerbated the situation, including the dearth of SRH services. For women and girls who have been forcibly displaced by conflict and instability, the challenges are particularly pressing.
I was finally able to trace our organization’s DNA when
Mrs. Graça Machel came to Seattle to reconnect with her VillageReach “family.” Ma Machel was a VillageReach founding advisor and the inspiration to deliver lasting changes to health care for the under-reached. A force behind global shifts in policy and political will for women and girls, she has impressed upon us many lessons. One was “to know and intimately understand the communities in which we work, and to ensure their voices are represented.” Another is that “progress is
always achieved through partnership.”
Raphael Salanga, Community Health Worker in Malawi, uses PPE from CAF-Africa to administer a routine vaccination to an infant in his community. Photo Credit: Homeline Media
Created: 11 January 2021
Thirty-two-year-old Mariam Traoré, a community health worker in Mali, starts her day with a COVID-19 self-check, including body temperature and other symptoms such as cough, sore throat, loss of smell or taste. If all is good, Ms. Traoré then gears up with a mask and face shield before leaving her house in Yirimadio, a district on the outskirts of the capital Bamako. She remembers to carry enough gloves to protect herself and others when visiting patients across her local town.
The WHO defines Community Health Workers (CHWs) as lay people who live in the communities they serve and who function as a critical link between those communities and the primary-healthcare system. In Africa, they provide low-cost interventions for common maternal and paediatric health problems such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, undernutrition, malaria, HIV, measles and now COVID-19. They also assist with immunization.