MAP International Assists in National Helminth Control in Cote d’Ivoire

Cote d’Ivoire is a developing nation of 18.9 million people in western Africa. A five-year armed conflict, which ended in 2007, has significantly reduced social support systems and healthcare in the country. Currently, Cote d’Ivoire has one of the highest childhood mortality rates in the region. Nearly 13 of every 100 children die.

 

A helminth refers to a parasitic worm and includes roundworm, tapeworm and pinworm. Helminths are a primary cause of disease among the country’s children. According to a study conducted by the Pasteur Institute of Cote d’Ivoire, nearly 37 percent of all children in Cote d’Ivoire’s capital of Abidjan have a helminth infection. Children with helminth infections must cope with tremendous health threats. From birth until age 2, infected children face an increased risk of mortality due to anemia and deficiencies in iron and vitamin A. Infected children ages 3 and older struggle with chronic anemia, vitamin A deficiencies, cognitive impairment, and decreased school performance and attendance. 

 

MAP International is part of a program for national helminth control in Cote d’Ivoire that focuses on children. MAP’s objectives are to improve general health, reduce absenteeism in schools and reduce deaths in children under age 5. Numerous studies throughout the developing world and in Cote d’Ivoire show that a national helminth control program coupled with health education will reduce infection, improve nutrition, and increase the physical and intellectual development of children. The National Helminth Control Program contributes to the achievement of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals by reducing the mortality rate among children and helping to ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling.

 

Through contributions of anti-parasitic medications such as Vermox, from the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, MAP is conducting helminth eradication campaigns for thousands of children at schools in and around Abidjan, where MAP has an office. In addition to dispensing medication, MAP staff members also conduct educational classes for children, their teachers and their parents about basic sanitation, the importance of purifying drinking water, and other measures they can take to avoid contracting parasites.

 

MAP has implemented its helminth control program by working with Johnson & Johnson, The Leprosy Mission Ireland, local school committees and drinking water companies in Cote d’Ivoire, Cote d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene, and the Ministry of National Education.

 

Founded in 1954 as Medical Assistance Programs, today MAP International is a leading nonprofit relief and development agency that provides healthcare for people in more than 115 countries plagued by war, natural disaster, disease and poverty. MAP works with more than 100 major relief agencies and pharmaceutical companies in the world’s poorest communities to provide essential medicines, promote community health development, and prevent and mitigate disease, disaster and other health threats. Each year, MAP distributes approximately $300 million in medicines and medical supplies to more than 25 million people across the globe. MAP also operates health clinics and community-based healthcare programs throughout Africa, Asia and the Americas. Since its inception, MAP has provided more than $3 billion in medicines to people in some of the world’s poorest areas.