children

To me, malaria is a very personal disease.

I first came face to face with malaria during the war of my time: Vietnam. I was plucked out of residency after my first year, with only an internship under my belt, and sent as a Navy Medical Officer to war. Medical school and residency prepared me well for much of the trauma I encountered medically, but I was totally unprepared for the large-scale emotional trauma, and for the tropical diseases I had encountered only in books.

I was overwhelmed by the young children with malaria, some of whom literally died in my arms while treating them.  Yet, I also witnessed bona fide miracles: children at death’s door, comatose and unresponsive, who responded dramatically to treatments, and ultimately went home to their families.

To address malaria, I focused on promoting prevention (long-lasting insecticidal nets [LLINS] for families and intermittent preventive treatment [IPT] for pregnant women), early detection, and early treatment in the community—what is now called community case management.

That was 40 years ago.

MSH's 40th anniversary year has been a catalyst to revisit our origins, recommit to our mission and renew our values. As we approach the holidays and look toward 2012, I’d like to share reflections on one of the most poignant events of the year for me: my recent visit with Mrs. Fumiko Iwamura in Japan. Fumiko-san is the widow of Dr. Noboru Iwamura, who inspired our founder Ron O’Connor to create MSH.

 

Over the next couple of months, as MSH celebrates it's 40th anniversary, reporter John Donnelly and photographer Dominic Chavez will be traveling to several countries to report on MSH’s work in the field. The stories will go into a book due out in the fall on MSH’s 40 years in global health. This blog entry is a post from the road, to give a flavor of their experiences with MSH staff.

Malaria is preventable and curable, yet every year it kills more than a million people throughout the world and tens of thousands in Southern Sudan alone.  Malaria infection remains the highest cause of morbidity and mortality in Southern Sudan. Every year, thousands in Southern Sudan die unnecessarily due to lack of access to appropriate prevention and treatment. In the wake of nearly 50 years of civil war, the country is hastening towards independence and a future with unlimited potential. Yet, every death brought about by malaria steals another life from contributing to the nation’s future.

The US Agency for International Aid (USAID)-funded, Management Sciences for Health (MSH)-led Sudan Health Transformation Project, Phase 2 (SHTP II) is working to combat this scourge. Through 165 health facilities in 14 counties and 10 states, SHTP II is providing vital services to prevent and treat malaria.