My Experience and Plan for Malaria Intervention


By Isatou Touray, The Gambia



My familiarity with malaria


Growing up in The Gambia, malaria has been a constant presence in many of our lives. I remember many times my younger siblings or friends falling ill: high fever, chills, sweating, sometimes convulsions. I myself have had malaria once as a child, recovered after treatment, but it was a scary time weakness for days, missing school, loss of appetite. I have also lost distant relatives: one cousin died when she was very young because treatment came too late. These experiences make me know that malaria is not just a statistic it is personal, and often dangerous, especially for children and pregnant women.



Value of malaria interventions
Malaria interventions things like insecticide‑treated bed nets, prompt diagnosis and treatment, seasonal chemoprevention, indoor residual spraying these save lives. They reduce the number of people who get very sick, they prevent deaths especially in young children, protect pregnant women (whose health is compromised by malaria), reduce the burden on health facilities, and save families loss of income (when caregivers cannot work, or when treatment costs are high). Interventions also improve school attendance when children are healthier. They help communities thrive health is the foundation for everything else: education, work, wellbeing.



How I would organize a malaria intervention

If I were organizing a malaria intervention in my community, here are the specifics:



Target group: children under 5, pregnant women, caretakers, and households in high risk villages (especially during rainy season).



Team: I would need about 6‑8 people:


• 2 health workers / nurses trained in malaria diagnosis and treatment,


• 2 community health volunteers / peer educators,


• 1 logistic coordinator,


• 1 data recorder / monitoring person,


• possibly someone in charge of transport or supplies.

Supplies needed:


• Long‑lasting insecticide treated nets (LLINs) to distribute to households without nets.


• Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) for malaria, so we can test people who feel sick rather than give presumptive treatment.
• Anti‑malarial medicines (following national guidelines; usually artemisinin‑based combination therapies for uncomplicated malaria).


• Supplies for pregnant women (intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy—IPTp medicines).


• Spray equipment / insecticide if indoor residual spraying is included.


• Posters, leaflets in local languages, visual aids (diagrams of mosquito life cycle, how malaria spreads, how to prevent).


• Thermometers, gloves, basic medical supplies.


• Transport (vehicle or motorbike), cold box (if any medicines need temp control), storage for nets and supplies.

Implementation plan:


• First stage: mapping the villages with highest malaria cases (from health clinic data).


• Then community sensitization: announce the intervention via village meetings, churches/mosques, radio, peer educators.


• Then actual distribution of nets, screening of people who have symptoms, treatment, and education sessions.


• Follow up: check that nets are being used, monitor any side effects, measure reduction in malaria incidence (if possible) after intervention.



Region near me that needs malaria intervention



Yes. In The Gambia, although malaria incidence has dropped significantly over recent years, there are still regions especially in the Upper River Region (and remote villages far from roads or clinics) that suffer high burden. These places have limited access to healthcare, suffer delays in treatment, and many households lack good bed nets or have damaged ones. Also, during the rainy season malaria spikes, and communities in flood‑prone or swampy areas are especially vulnerable.