Malaria, Bugs & the Outside World

Malaria, Bugs & the Outside World

by Talia Dunyak & Jennifer Chen

1. Data

1. Clinics: The clinics in Senegal are generally run by doctors. They are often in charge of distributing bed nets and giving vaccinations and other medical tests and treatments. Sometimes clinics are too far away for people to easily access. They’re are not enough doctors within Senegal because of the “brain drain.”
2. Bed nets are usually hung from the ceiling or wall and should cover the entire bed. There should be one net for each bed, but due to the lack of nets this is not always the case. Nets come in several varieties and can be changed from circle to square nets and vice versa.
3. Nets should be washed with regular soap and water and not with detergent. They should be air dried in the shade, not in the sun. This helps to make the impregnation last longer.
4. Bed nets are shipped to Senegal from other countries. Some labs are dedicated to testing the efficiency of the nets (making sure they last as long as the company says they do).
5. Bed nets are freely distributed through the Senegalese governmental organization PNLP every five years. This allows many people to receive nets and because of this the malaria rate has gone down.
6. Mosquitos are attracted to standing pools of water and breed in stagnant water. Because people often wash their clothing in the courtyards of their homes, standing water can be a problem within homes.
7. One way to prevent mosquitos coming into the home is by using screens. The problems with screens is that they often allow for dust to blow into the home, which is undesirable.
8. After malaria, typhoid is the most common disease. Typhoid is spread by dirty water and food and can spread quickly throughout a community.
9. A new lab will be opening soon in Thies. It was funded by Tulane University and will be used for  laboratory research. This Lab is connected to the existing lab that does work with testing the effectiveness of nets.
10. Although nets are not always free, free nets should be given to pregnant women by clinics. Pregnant women should also take several pills as a precautionary effort against malaria.
11. Many people are in health associations, which work sort of like insurance groups. By paying a nominal fee, members are granted access to free or subsidized healthcare and transportation to clinics.
12. The best protection against malaria is sleeping under bed nets.
13. Bed nets are also the cheapest form of protection against malaria, and nets when not free only cost about 500 CFA ($1).
14. Educational campaigns, such as the ones held by Speak Up Africa, have helped to lower the prevalence of malaria in Senegal.
15. “Set setal”, the cleaning of the village streets to prevent trash buildup, which may attract mosquitos, flies, other bugs, etc.

2. Analysis

1. The only time you are under the bed net is when you’re in bed, so during the day, there are still many opportunities to contract malaria. Ways to work around this problem include finding alternative ways to preventing malaria.
2. One problem is that in rural areas, clinics can be few and far between and there may not be any available doctors. This is because of the brain drain currently occurring with Senegal’s professional class, who are using their Senegalese education to go elsewhere. Even if doctors are available, transportation to the doctor is an issue as well.
3. Bug spray is also good protection (used by foreigners) but it is not readily available for local communities - too expensive. Regarding the environment it might not be environmentally safe to use sprays, but it could help.
4. In outdoor courtyards, if it was possible to either put some sort of net or screen over the “roof” of the courtyard, this could greatly reduce the amount of mosquitoes present in the outdoor living space. For cooking, some sort of chimney structure could be created to let smoke out.
5. The development of an insect-repellent brick or paint could be developed to help ward off mosquitos from the home.
6. Because mosquitoes are attracted to standing water, there has to be a way to reduce (or reuse?) standing water. Ways of doing this could involve planting gardens in the courtyard that use the drain water from bathing/cooking or finding some sort of way to drain and reuse water so it is not standing in the outdoor living space.
7. Regarding the standing water, on a national infrastructure based way, a movement to create drainage systems could help with the removal of breeding grounds of mosquitoes. (see article)
8. It could be possible to make some sort of nets or screens out of recycled plastic. This would both reduce trash and work to increase screen usage in homes.
9. Why are window screens not a main method to keep mosquitoes out of homes? Window screens are fairly cheap and sturdy, and they can be nailed to the window or wall. Yes, dust will still get into the house, but dust will get in through any open window or door. Drapes and other coverings could also be used to decrease dust, if it’s a concern.
10. Children are the main targets of educational campaigns. Schools are a good target to reach the major audience. To get children engaged, many campaigns use sport platforms, such as soccer. Educational campaigns are proven to be effective in the fight against malaria.
11. One major thing that could be done is figuring out a type of screen that could be made or incorporated into buildings. If we are considering making bricks with slits (weep holes) in them, maybe it would be possible to build a brick that has a built in screen. It could work as both an aggregate and a way to eliminate mosquitoes entering the home.
12. When some people notice the symptoms of a disease, they may automatically assume it’s malaria because it’s so prevalent (malaria and typhoid also have very similar symptoms) Doctors will give them medication without doing any lab tests to confirm that the person has malaria. If they don’t actually have malaria, it is a waste of resources to distribute the wrong medication, and could also be a cause of death.