Health & Nutrition

Malaria remains one of the most pressing health challenges in The Gambia, particularly for young children and pregnant women. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malaria is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the country, with children under 5 being the most affected. In 2023 alone, the country reported an estimated 115,908 cases. Despite ongoing efforts to combat the disease, it continues to impact thousands of families across the country. In response, ChildFund has been working tirelessly to reduce malaria’s effects by providing essential interventions such as bed nets to vulnerable communities.

“I have several children, three of whom are under 5 years old, and thanks to ChildFund, now they all sleep comfortably under a bed net,” says Nyima from Jarra Madina in The Gambia’s Lower River Region.

Nyima, a mother of seven, is expecting her eighth child in a few weeks. This qualified her to receive one of the much-needed conical bed nets that ChildFund distributed across the Lower, Central, and Upper River Regions.

Nyima explains that although she had received bed nets in the past, none were like the ones provided by ChildFund. “Most of the time, we receive four-corner bed nets, and those ones are very difficult to manage in our room settings. Also, the texture of the bed net cloth is not usually child-friendly because my children used to complain that the nets were too hard and caused irritation to their skin. But when the ChildFund bed nets arrived, we were all happy because they are conical in shape and very soft. In fact, the children are the first to celebrate them. The bed nets are also medicated, and because of this, there are no mosquitoes in our house, which means fewer malaria infections for my children.”

Mariama, who also received a bed net, says: “I replaced my previous bed nets with the nets from ChildFund because these are the best.”

Jainaba, a pregnant woman, added, “We need more bed nets so that all our children sleep comfortably at night. I was fortunate to receive one, but as you can see, I have five children, and all of them cannot sleep on one bed. Nonetheless, on behalf of my community, I wish to thank ChildFund for the donation.”

Musa, a father of six, also shared his gratitude: “My children used to cry at night because of mosquito bites. But since we received the ChildFund bed nets, they have stopped crying because the nets are of high quality and fit well on any kind of bed. We would like to thank ChildFund for donating these nets to us. We are among the lucky ones to receive them. Thanks to the mosquito nets, it’s been over 6 months since any of my children have caught malaria.”

In the Upper River Region, where temperatures often reach their highest, beneficiaries praised the quality of the ChildFund bed nets. Ceesay, a community member, said, “All my three children now sleep comfortably at night, thanks to the ChildFund bed nets. I am among the lucky ones, but many others in the community were not fortunate enough to receive them. I am therefore appealing to ChildFund to help us with more bed nets. I know you will pass on my message, and they will send us more.”

Sarjo explained the extreme heat in their area and how the community uses the bed nets: “As soon as we received the ChildFund bed nets, we moved the old nets from the rooms to the sitting place outside where the whole family, including children, gathers at night until the weather gets cooler.”

Health Ministry officials across the three regions who supported the distribution of 16,000 bed nets donated by ChildFund earlier this year emphasized that the women preferred ChildFund’s bed nets over others. They noted that the new nets would significantly reduce malaria cases among children under 5 and pregnant women, who were the main beneficiaries of this donation.n