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A Collaborative
Project was undertaken by The Commonwealth Pharmaceutical Association
(CPA),
The International
Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP), and The World Health Organization
(WHO). The Malaria Task Group comprised members of the above
organisations and was responsible for overall management of the
Project. At the country level, the project was implemented by national
pharmaceutical societies, and co-ordinated by CPA.
Problem
Statement: At its inaugural meeting during
the FIP Congress in Vienna in August 2000, the CPA/FIP/WHO Malaria
Task Group recognised that pharmacists could and should play a more
pro-active and co-ordinated role in the prevention and treatment of
malaria, given the alarming global statistics relating to the disease
and the enormous economic burden and the tragedy of human suffering,
especially in the high risk groups of children under five years of age
and pregnant women.
Objectives:
The Malaria Task Group decided that the
highest priority was prevention of malaria through provision of
consumer information. Its aim, therefore, was to provide pharmacists
with the skills and resources to develop, produce and implement
intervention strategies which would enable them to contribute
effectively to the prevention of the disease in both the rural and
urban areas of malaria-endemic countries.
Design:
The project centred around a “mix of
intervention strategies”consisting of two major communication tools
which were relatively inexpensive to produce and easily adaptable to
suit the local conditions: 1.Malaria Fact Cards for use in urban
areas; and 2. Flip Charts or Pictograms for use in rural areas. The
project has focussed to date on the Malaria Fact Card. Malaria Flip
Charts will form Phase 2 of the project. The Fact Card Project was
designed to work on three levels: 1. by providing easily accessible
consumer health information through pharmacies and clinics; 2. by
using pharmacists’skills as communicators and educators as well as
medication providers; 3. by promoting the role of professional
organisations within health infrastructures. The time for design,
development, implementation and evaluation in each country was
estimated at two years.
Project
Settings: After successfully piloting the
project in Zimbabwe in 2001, the Malaria Fact Card project has since
been implemented by the Pharmaceutical Societies of Tanzania and
Ghana.
Outcome
Measures: Project outcomes were evaluated
on three levels: 1. Pharmacists’ Focus Group, 2. Consumer Survey, 3.
Organisations Focus Group. Results revealed improved consumer
understanding of the use of malaria medications, increased awareness
of prevention strategies and early treatment. Pharmacists reported
greater patient/pharmacist interaction and greater recognition of
pharmacists’ knowledge and advice.
Conclusions:
The project has enormous potential to develop further as a
self-sustaining consumer health education program. The fact card is
developed through collaboration between the research and practice arms
of the profession, distributed by pharmacists and healthcare workers
in pharmacies and clinics, and resourced through public/private
partnerships. |