We are excited to announce that we have partnered with Global Cause on the 2020 Fight Against Malaria campaign!

Dr. Dorothy Echodu, Pilgrim Africa’s CEO is featured in a piece that shares how Uganda’s progress offers hope in the malaria fight.

Read more on the importance of stepping up commitment and investment to end malaria from Dr. Echodu and other experts and industry leaders in the Guardian on June 3rd, 2020.

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With only 58 cases reported so far, the entire nation of Uganda is on lockdown. Transport in any vehicle that is not government-sanctioned (including private cars and motorcycles) is forbidden, and several women in labor lost their lives in the last few weeks because they were unable to reach a hospital in time. Those who wish to keep food markets open must choose to sleep employees on site. As in many other countries, people have lost jobs and livelihoods in the economic slowdown caused by the lockdown.

But here, there is no health insurance, no paid leave, no unemployment to apply for, no food bank to go to, no individual subsidies, no loans to businesses, and a dwindling national food supply. Many Ugandans are in danger of not surviving the lockdown.

COVID-19 hasn’t killed anyone here yet. Malaria’s still the primary Grim Reaper. But Ugandans are no strangers to other deadly viruses, Ebola among them, which is part of why the response has been so swift. Internet is slow, strained and only available to a certain segment of society, mostly in urban centers. As a result there is not a lot of accurate information getting out to rural areas about COVID-19. Low levels of information lead to higher levels of fear.

Despite the challenges, we are not without hope. In fact, we know we need more than ever to do what we do: Love boldly, create catalytic change, and partner well. Here is what Pilgrim Africa is doing now to mitigate and address the effects of the COVID-19 crisis:

• Exposure & Vulnerability of Village Health Teams (VHTs): Our 207 VHTs in the Katakwi Rotary Malaria Project are like all VHTs in Uganda: they are volunteers, often elderly, and they treat children who are presenting symptoms of either malaria, diarrhea, or pneumonia. Especially during the treatment of pneumonia, they are exposed, and fearful. In the last two weeks, we have changed our training, equipping and operating procedures to allow our VHTs to keep functioning safely in the pandemic.
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): This was a tough one. Thanks to the amazing generosity of friends at Rotarian Malaria Partners, we managed to get some of the last masks available in the country and distributed them last week to our VHTs (below); our current supply will last for approximately a month. Rotarian Malaria Partners, again, has helped connect us to mask suppliers and we are in the midst of placing an order for months 2 and 3, together with Living Goods, another NGO supporting VHTs. Both we and Living Goods are grateful to be able to make this order: other partners across the country are shutting down their community case management programs.

VHTs receiving their protective personal equipment

• Increased communication: We’re using health workers as a means to communicate COVID-19 facts with villagers. There is a high level of fear and a low level of knowledge. People living in rural areas are not receiving the kind of news that city dwellers are getting. Our VHTs are trusted providers of reliable health information. They will be providing COVID-19 updates and teaching transmission avoidance techniques.
• Partnership: The Pilgrim Africa Board is meeting weekly to address the evolving needs arising from this crisis. Despite the usual threats to nonprofits at times of economic pullback, the Board is determined to “play offense.” Last week, we requested and obtained a new formal partnership with Uganda’s Ministry of Health to assist the country in its larger COVID-19 response, by assessing the needs of the quarantine centers and hospitals housing positives, and are discussing partnership with Uganda’s Critical Care Association as well. Uganda needs not only equipment and personnel, but also expertise and training, some of which can be obtained remotely.

Right now, COVID isn’t killing anyone in Uganda. Malaria is. Our VHTs are already doing lifesaving work, and we are doing everything we can to ensure their safety and adapt to a new threat. We are also working to ensure that COVID-19 won’t be a deadly scourge in a Uganda under-equipped to meet the demand of care for critically ill patients.

We are working on other partnering initiatives as well to help the country in the current crisis, and will be updating you on these soon. For everyone in the world right now, coronavirus is changing all the rules and upsetting the status quo. In Uganda, there’s potential to manage those changes proactively and well to avoid great disaster. We are focusing on what Pilgrim Africa does best: fostering hope by creating a local and actionable, if ambitious and visionary, plan for a sustainable, prosperous healthy future.

Stay safe, and love boldly.

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SEATTLE—Pilgrim Africa’s health clinic, Beacon Medical Center, continues to provide care that is instrumental to the community of Soroti, Uganda.

Beacon Medical Center is a private medical clinic located next to Beacon of Hope College. Classified as a Health Center II, it provides out-patient medical care for the community of Soroti and Beacon of Hope students and staff.

The healthcare system structure of Uganda is organized as a tiered, decentralized medical system and is federally funded under the Ministry of Health.

The district of Soroti houses a population of approximately 297,000 people according to the 2014 National Population and Housing Census, with 53 health facilities. Out of the health facilities, 23 are classified as Health Center IIs. For comparison, the city of Spokane has a population of about 217,000 and has over 65 health clinics of similar scale and ability.

Beacon Medical Center effectively utilizes its resources to continually provide accessible care for the community. At only 900 square feet and 7 beds, Beacon Medical Center serves nearly 1,000 people a month—most of whom are students at Beacon of Hope. On average, Beacon Medical receives and treats 30 people a day within their 10-hour work window. When the staff recognized this was not long enough to adequately care for their patients, they added an additional two hours each day—volunteering to forego any additional pay.

A typical month at the Beacon Medical Center involves treating patients for malaria, respiratory tract infections, typhoid, urinary tract infections, diarrhea, skin infections, intestinal worms, peptic ulcer disease, and more.

The most common conditions treated in September 2019 were malaria, respiratory tract infections, and peptic ulcer disease. A detailed second look at patients treated in the month of September reflects 60% were students, 30% were community members, and 10% were school staff.

The five staff running Beacon Medical Center are passionate and dedicated to serving their community and improving the health of others. This philosophy has strengthened Beacon Medical’s alliance with Beacon of Hope, and opened opportunities for past students. Sam Eibu, a former Beacon of Hope student, is now a lab technician for the clinic.

What makes Beacon Medical Center so important out of all the other health centers?

Beacon Medical Center provides care to our students at Beacon of Hope in a format that prevents them from sacrificing their education. Its close proximity to the campus and care that values prevention and health maintenance translates to more students able to spend their time learning instead of traveling for healthcare or staying home ill.

Beacon Medical Center serves and touches hundreds of patients’ lives each month, lifting them up when they are in their most vulnerable state. Beacon Medical Center is for the community, by the community.

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While the months of June to September are historically high transmission periods, 2019 has seen a higher number of malaria cases than typically recorded in the past. July 2018 recorded 948,136 malaria cases, compared to an 83% increase of 1,731,701 cases in July 2019.

In total, approximately 1.7 million people have been infected with malaria between June and August, and the numbers continue to climb.

As of September 24^th, 2019, the Ministry of Health reported a majority of the country was still under priority epidemic level malaria disease burden. With high malaria burden also comes high malaria mortality, leading to malaria deaths recording at 2.5 times greater in 2019 than 2018. Most alarmingly, 72% of the deaths recorded occurred in children under 5 years old.

This upsurge in malaria is believed to have been exacerbated by climate change. As the climate warms, weather patterns and average temperatures have changed in parts of Uganda, enabling the disease carrying mosquitoes to spread and live in more areas.

As cited by the Ugandan Ministry of Health, prolonged intermittent rains have facilitated new and additional mosquito breeding sites, since mosquitoes breed in virtually any and every form of stagnant water. Therefore, the malaria vector mosquitoes have substantially increased in density.

Despite these disheartening reports, the district involved in the Katakwi Rotary Malaria Project (KRMP) with Pilgrim Africa was not reported as a district with a malaria upsurge. The Katakwi district has consistently been reported as a lower priority region and a declining epidemic district, with test positivity trends failing to reach the highest crisis threshold. Fortunately, zero deaths were reported in the September 24^th Malaria Situation Report, a weekly status report of malaria in Uganda released by the Ministry of Health.  Below details key indicators used in monitoring the burden of malaria across Uganda, the district of Katakwi is outlined in blue.

As the threat of malaria has increased across Uganda, Pilgrim Africa has answered the local calls to action. By spraying neighboring parish regions with mosquito insecticide, we have hope that this preventative measure will provide more security against the disease, and peace of mind for the local villagers.

Join us in fighting the ravenous disease that is malaria. Donate and help save lives today.

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