Saw Bay Dho Say remembers the day he had a blood test for malaria. He is 20 years old and comes from Ywar Thel Dho village in Kayah State.
He is a mine worker. As a mine worker he frequently had to spend nights at the mining sites deep in the forest, which constantly put him at risk of malaria. However, he had no knowledge about malaria and its symptoms until his cousin Naw Palel Gay Phaw, a malaria volunteer for the Medical Action Myanmar (MAM) malaria project, helped him get tested for the first time. The result confirmed that he had malaria and he received antimalarial medicines free of charge from MAM.
MAM has been implementing its ‘Intensified Malaria Control in Myanmar’ project with support from the Global Fund’s Regional Artemisinin-resistance Initiative (RAI) grant since 2014. The project is being implemented in six townships: three in Kayah State, two in Kayin State and one in Tanintharyi Region.
“Before I came to know about malaria and its symptoms, I used to take commonly available flu tablets like Konidine and Fluza and other locally available medicines for fever. I have now learnt about the need to get tested for malaria for every fever, especially in areas where malaria is endemic,” said Saw Bay Dho Say.
Saw Bay Dho Say had never seen how an RDT test was performed and he told of his experience.
“My cousin told me that she would give me a blood test with a rapid diagnostic test kit, which can show within a few minutes whether a person has the malaria parasite or not. She also explained that it was not painful. She wiped my finger with a swab, took a few drops of blood, and put it in a small well in a stick. She also added some drops of clear fluid into another well in the stick. ”
They waited for about 10 minutes to read the result. Saw Bay Dho Say was very eager to know his test result. “After reading the result, Naw Palel told me that I had malaria and it was of mixed type.” (Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax)
“At first, I didn’t believe it and she made me look at the stick carefully. All I saw was that there were three bands in the result portion of the test stick. Naw Palel explained that I needed to take treatment and that it would take roughly three days to complete the first treatment and another eight weeks to take primaquine once a week,” he explained further.
Eager to get rid of the distressing fever as soon as possible, Saw Bay Dho Say agreed to take the antimalarial treatment that Naw Palel provided.
“She gave me a stack of tablets and told me that it was called Coartem 24. When I looked closely at the stack, I noticed that it had 24 round tablets and it had colour markings for each four tablets. She instructed me to take these tablets, four at a time, two times a day in the morning and evening,” he continued.
Naw Palel herself helped Saw Bay Dho Say take the first dose of four tablets in front of her. She also gave him paracetamol and orange-coloured pills called primaquine. Saw Bay Dho Say was advised to take three primaquine pills every week on the same day for eight weeks. He was very satisfied with the prompt malaria diagnosis and treatment he received.
His face brightened when he learned that the diagnosis and treatment he received was free of charge from MAM with support from the Global Fund. His cousin Naw Palel as a MAM volunteer provides malaria diagnosis and testing service to everyone in the village and the surrounding area, free of charge.
“I followed her instructions and I have no fever now and I feel well. I am taking the primaquine tablets weekly. While I was taking the drugs, she came to me to check my pills and whether I was taking them correctly or not. I never had malaria before or maybe I didn’t know its symptoms and I had never got tested for malaria,” he continued.
“Now I am afraid of malaria and I decided to check for malaria every time I have a fever. I will spread the message in my village about the importance of early diagnosis and prompt treatment for malaria,” he continued, with a newly acquired knowledge of malaria prevention.
Saw Bay Dho Say is right to be concerned, as someone with malaria should receive treatment within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms. A delay in treatment can result in severe complications that can be fatal. It also increases the risk of onward transmission among the villagers and in the neighbourhood.
“It is important to take correct treatment properly for a sufficient duration. I will also tell everyone of the availability of the free malaria testing service at her place,” he continued, pointing at Naw Palel Gay Phaw with a smile.
He is thankful to the volunteers and staff from MAM for offering the villagers free RDT malaria testing and antimalarial drugs, with support from RAI.
It is for the benefit of everyone in Ywar Thel Dho village, especially those who are in great need yet far from the quality basic healthcare services in remote villages of Kayah State.
Read more about the work of Medical Action Myanmar here.
