Fighting Malaria Together Newsletter - August 2011

Rotary Club of Mufulira fighting malaria at the district level

The Rotary Club of Mufulira has been supporting the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership and the government of Zambia toward achieving the Millennium Developments Goals (MDGs).

In April 2011, the Mufulira Rotary Club, with Town Clerk Charles Mwandila, assisted with the mobilization and distribution of insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) to the local community from the Town Centre Clinic located at the Council Offices. The delivery of bednets was made possible by the US Agency for International Development, which recently donated ITNs to Zambia through the Ministry of Health.

Also in April, the Club donated an autoclave sourced at a cost of more than 35 million kwacha (US$7,500) through the Rotary Club of Yeo Vale in the UK, donating it to Ronald Ross General Hospital, the biggest public health institution in the district. Other medical supplies including gloves, syringes, and speculums were also donated. It is the Club’s wish that by assisting in all areas of the health sector, more efforts will be directed toward mobilizing funds into the priority areas such as malaria prevention and treatment.

In the first week of March, the Rotary Club of Mufulira hosted its International Night with the aim to raise funds for the Club. The funds collected at the event will be channeled to the Service Project Committee and other projects including the Malaria Project run under the auspices of the Rotary Club of Seattle.

The Rotary Club of Mufulira is eager to establish greater links, experience the success of the Seattle–Zambia Rotary Malaria Project, and possibly extend partnerships to include more Clubs both locally and internationally. Making proven malaria prevention and treatment methods available on a national scale to the people who need them most requires coordinated hands-on training and support at the community level. Mufulira Rotary Club wishes to participate and contribute to such community-level activities. One way the Club shares its influence and experience is by acting as a link between Clubs in the US and in Zambia through the Zambia Malaria Rotary Steering Committee, a committee that was initiated by local Rotarians to contribute to easing the malaria burden in Zambian communities.

The Rotary Club of Mufulira embarked on a project recently at Murundu farming area, an area that shares a 2 to 3 km border with the Republic of Congo. Both areas have high malaria incidence. The Club donated beds to the local health center to enable patients diagnosed with serious malaria illness to be attended to at the clinic as inpatients before they are transferred to the nearest hospital, which is more than 15 km away. The Club also renovated the health facility, provided a new water tank to ensure safe and clean water at the clinic, and constructed shelves for the registry department to ensure fast and reliable record-keeping for all clients.

The Club continues to motivate staff members at the clinic through a multidimensional approach of assisting the health fraternity in the provision of medical sundries and equipment. The Club gives and sponsors trophies accompanied by “prizes” for the most outstanding student midwife and registered nurse for their start-up in life as new graduates. The Rotary Club of Mufulira hopes to devote more resources to the fight against malaria, and ultimately reach the MDGs at community and district level.