Taking up 2 of Rotary’s main focus areas which are Fighting Diseases and Saving mothers and children, the Rotary Malaria Committee of The Gambia carried out the following programme: Educational Awareness program for Pregnant Women, Mothers and Caregivers on malaria prevention at local health centers and hospitals during antenatal consultation days and pediatric outpatient clinics.
The Malaria Prevention Educational Awareness Campaign was conducted in May 2022 in major hospitals in the urban areas of The Gambia aimed at reaching pregnant women and mothers of children under 5 yrs. old during their antenatal clinic days and pediatric outpatient days respectively at hospitals in the urban populated areas of The Gambia.
The main highlight of this campaign is the use of drama performances by a professional drama group to educate the women on the importance of taking the malaria prophylaxis medication for pregnant women and teaching the mothers how to identify malaria symptoms in children and encouraging them to take the children to the nearest health center for them to be tested for malaria whenever they detect malaria symptom. The drama group makes it fun and easier way for the audience to capture key messages on malaria prevention which makes them understand it better.