Family Health > Programs

Irène Hounsou is a 35-year-old resident of Djeffa in the Sèmè Commune of Ouémé Region who can tell you firsthand about the devastating impact of malaria. She lost her first two children to the disease, which is the number one killer of children in Benin. One child was a year old, the second only two years old, when they succumbed to malaria.

Irène Hounsou now has an 11-month-old baby, and is doing everything she can to ensure that this child does not become a victim of malaria. "Since my son's birth...I always spend the night with him, using the mosquito net I purchased during my first prenatal consultation. I am practicing all that I learned through the advice I received during my visits for vaccination."

Irène Hounsou and thousands of other mothers, children and families have benefited from the work of Africare and the USAID-funded Africa Integrated Malaria Initiative (AIMI) in the Oueme/Plateau Department in southeastern Benin. Based in Porto Novo, AIMI has been implemented by Africare and the Ministry of Health's Departmental Health Directorate of the Oueme/Plateau. The project is managed through a coordination unit with a Ministry of Health-appointed coordinator, a technical advisory committee composed of key Directorate staff, a technical advisor and project support staff.

The AIMI project, called PROLIPO (Programme de Lutte Intégrée contre le Paludisme dans l'Oueme/Plateau) in Benin, focuses on improved home-based care and care-seeking behaviors for malaria and other childhood illnesses, improving diagnosis and treatment through integrated case management, improving prevention and treatment of malaria for pregnant women, and increasing use of insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria. Through AIMI, USAID is playing a leading role in the wide-scale introduction of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), an approach that ensures that children receive comprehensive diagnosis and treatment.

Through AIMI, a total of 244 health care providers have been trained in clinical IMCI. Also, 60 of the 130 health facilities in the Ouémé/Plateau Region have received equipment to support IMCI. Insecticide-treated nets have been promoted and delivered in health facilities with the support of 885 health care providers and information materials developed by the project, and 338 representatives of women's groups have been trained in the mosquito net promotion strategy. Public information campaigns also have been carried out-covering the Ouémé/Plateau population of 1.1 million-to encourage households to seek early treatment for malaria and to use insecticide treated bednets.

Another important aspect of AIMI/PROLIPO is focused measurement and documentation of results. The project, with technical support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has conducted nine extensive studies and evaluations that contributed to the definition of policy and the formulation of strategies for malaria control work in Benin. The studies also supported the Ministry of Public Health in adopting IMCI as national policy, adapting generic training materials for use in Benin, and extending IMCI to other regions in Benin. Monitoring and evaluation activities have included a child mortality monitoring system, using the Preceding Birth Technique (and training of 1,641 midwives in infant mortality data collection and monitoring), and operations research activities. The project also has resulted in four articles in professional journals to share project experiences and results.

Household surveys conducted in 2004 show that 46.7% of children under five years old were sleeping under slept under insecticide treated bednets (up from only 0,9% in 1999). The child mortality system also has demonstrated a reduction in child mortality from 11.06% (March 2002) to 09.68% (March 2004).

AIMI's success has relied on a variety of partnerships. Partners that have made additional financial and in-kind contributions to AIMI include the Ministry of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, grassroots-level partners (women's groups, local non-governmental organizations, and rural development institutions), and Africare. Various dignitaries have visited the project site. They include the US Ambassador to Benin, USAID Mission Director and the Family Health Team, WHO and UNICEF Representatives, and Benin's Minister of Health.

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