While helping to tackle the pandemic, ARHC is working to make sure that the control efforts for HIV, TB and malaria are not neglected and the provision of lifesaving services for these diseases is uninterrupted. Working closely with its SRs, ARHC remains committed to ensuring continuity of services without compromising the safety of healthcare workers.
Medical Action Myanmar (MAM), one of the SRs under ARHC, provides malaria prevention and treatment services to communities in hard-to-reach areas through its integrated community malaria volunteers (ICMVs). Under the Global Fund RAI2E grant, MAM has been providing malaria services in Paletwa Township of Chin State since 2016, covering around 50,000 population in 200 villages.
The provision of healthcare services has been somewhat impacted in Myanmar by the travel restrictions and physical distancing practices resulting from COVID-19.
Dr Thet Pine Hmoo is the Project Medical Coordinator for MAM’s Village Health Worker Programme in Paletwa Township. In the wake of COVID-19, he has been facing challenges in providing malaria services to the communities. Nevertheless, working with his team, he is trying hard to overcome these challenges to continue to provide services for the communities he serves.
“COVID-19 brought panic to the local community. In some villages, the community did not allow us to visit in this period,” he said.
But he believes that the services can be provided if infection control measures are practiced and the community is well informed about COVID-19. MAM has been practicing physical distancing rules and providing door-to-door healthcare services instead of gathering big groups of people in the same place.
The ICMVs are the front-line workers at the community level who are responsible for early diagnosis and effective treatment. MAM has trained these volunteers in infection control measures and equipped them with protective gear such as surgical masks, gloves and hand sanitizer. COVID-19 health messages are provided using loudspeakers so that everyone can listen and follow the rules.
In April, Dr Thet Pine Hmoo and his team carried out targeted malaria screening in MAM’s 200 villages in Paletwa Township, and 118 were found to be malaria hotspot villages, with more than 5% positivity rate for Plasmodium falciparum infection. The MAM medical mobile team and ICMVs conducted door-to-door active case detection for malaria along with individual health education sessions in 62 of the 118 hotspot villages with 81% coverage during April to June 2020.
“We visited every household, took history and tested for malaria using rapid diagnostic tests (RDT). We also provided treatment as necessary and recorded patient information at the same time. Village leaders and ICMVs have been very helpful and the activities might not have been successful without their support,” he said.
As a result, MAM performed 14,605 RDTs and found 154 positive cases (109 P. falciparum plus mixed infection and 45 P. vivax). Among the 109 P. falciparum and mixed cases, 91 cases were asymptomatic, 15 were children under 5, and 41 were aged between 5 and 14 years.
This is one example of our SRs’ provision of health services while taking preventive measures for both healthcare providers and patients. ARHC is ensuring that the control efforts for HIV, TB and malaria are not neglected and stay on the agenda while continuing to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.
