Eni Foundation in Congo – Update on the Salissa Mwana and Kento Mwana projects
In the course of the 1st semester of 2009, the wide-ranging vaccination and epidemiological screening program against the main childhood diseases, Salissa Mwana, continues to expand and the project for the prevention of the transmission of HIV from mother to child, Kento Mwana, enters its development phase.
Salissa Mwana
The rehabilitation and equipping of the healthcare centers planned for 2009 continued with the completion of 5 centers in the first semester, while another 5 will be refurbished by the end of the year.
With reference to the clinical activities, some 300 vaccination campaigns were conducted and, thanks also to the use of mobile medical units, 320 villages were reached in the rural areas of the three regions, which made it possible to carry out over 24,000 vaccinations (at the end of 2008, with the project not yet fully operational, 21,000 vaccinations had been carried out).
With respect to training and awareness building, 130 doctors and healthcare personnel were trained through 30 training days and 200 villages were reached with information and communication campaigns as well as meetings with local authorities.
The Salissa Mwana (Let’s protect the children) project, launched in the second half of 2007, will be completed by the end of 2011 and aims at contributing to the improvement of the healthcare of children in the Kouilou, Niari and Cuvette regions through a wide-ranging vaccination and epidemiological screening program against the main infant diseases; the rehabilitation and fitting of 30 remote primary healthcare centers; the training of local healthcare personnel and the mobilization of the population on prevention.
Kento Mwana
During the first 6 months of 2009, with Eni Foundation taking over, the project entered its development phase, which will include the Kouilou, Niari and Cuvette regions.
Counseling activities have been extended to 4 new prenatal health centers: 3 in the region of Niari, in the area of Dolisie, and 1 in the city of Pointe Noire, where 4 other centers had been already activated by Eni in the pilot phase.
During the semester, over 2,500 pregnant women referred to the 8 centers. Almost all of them took the HIV test, and all those who tested positive (4,5%) accepted to take part in the protocol. Moreover, of the some 70 children who completed the follow up from the first phase of the project, almost all tested negative to HIV after completing the protocol.
With respect to training, 20 training days were held with almost 600 doctors and paramedical personnel from local healthcare facilities participating.
The Kento Mwana (Mother and Child) project, which will last 4 years (2009-2012), is aimed at reducing from 30% to 2% the vertical transmission of HIV in the maternal and infant population benefiting from the initiative (some 65,000 mother and child pairs) who lives in the Kouilou, Niari and Cuvette regions and will rely on the logistics and network of healthcare facilities set up by the Foundation for the Salissa Mwana project in the three regions.
August 2009
Contacts
Eni Foundation
Piazzale Enrico Mattei 1
00144 Roma - ITALIA
Tel 06 59824108 - Fax 06 59822106
e-mail: enifoundation@eni.it
Salissa Mwana - Project aimed at improving child healthcare in the remote areas of Congo
Eni Foundation is conducting wide-ranging vaccination and epidemiological screening program against the principal infant disease in the Kouilou, Niari and Cuvette regions.
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