NEWS

EDUCATION FOR ALL REQUIRES A GOOD HEALTH

The burden of malaria in Africa

Spring 2012

CONTENT

p1 Lead Photo

p1 Word from the President

p2 Brief

p3-4 Health Education against Malaria

p5 Project Bank and Advocacy

p6 Missions

p7 Your Commitment

SEEDS OF SOLIDARITY!

Planting Artemisia annuain our gardens

against mosquitoesThis year, we plant Artemisia annua!

The annual plant will protect you throughout the

summer against mosquitoes. The 50 cm to 2,5 m high

bushes will brighten up your garden with

vibrant green touches.

When summer ends, you may even dry up the leaves

to make a tea well-known for its stimulating and

energizing properties.

For each package of seeds purchased and sown, IDAY

will plant the equivalent in an African school.

This plant indeed demonstrates great antimalarial

properties and can thus contribute to improving the

quality of education for all in Africa.

Artemisia annua 50 seeds - 5€

Malaria remains a major hinderance to development and to improving the quality of education

in Africa. As the classical methods used to fight this plague show their limits, new approaches are needed.

In many places already, Artemisia annua is grown for its repellent and curative properties. The Chinese have used this plant for over 2000 years for various purposes, including to eradicate malaria.

Unfortunately, official bodies are wavering to recognise the benefits of this natural treatment. Some European countries even declared it a toxic plant. Is it to protect a few pharmaceutical companies’ greedy interests?

IDAY, IFBV (Luxembourg), Maisha Foundation (Ieper) and Belherb consider that every single European and African has the right to benefit from the advantages of Artemisia annua.

Today we are able to rely on a network of no less than 12 African, European and South-American universities. Together, we shall continue pursuing our shared objective.

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D.R.Congo - 2012 - A fast-growing group, IDAY DRC/KIVU is increasingly active in the regions of Uvira and Goma

Lead Photo

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IDAY-International aisbl - 19, rue des Jambes - 1420 Braine l’Alleud - Belgium Responsible publisher: J-J Schul - Redactor in chief/graphist: D. DevillersContacts: T. +32 (0)2 385 44 13 - F. +32 (0)2 385 44 12 - info@iday.org Bank account: IBAN: BE 93 5230 8026 6767 - SWIFT: TRIOBEBB (TRIODOS)

Jean-Jacques SchulFounding member & Chairman of IDAY-International

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Brief.

WORLD

25 April5th World Malaria Day

More info? info@iday.org

BENIN, BURKINA FASO, BURUNDI, CAMEROON,

GHANA, KENYA, MAURITANIA, DRC,

RWANDA, SENEGAL, TOGO, UGANDA

In 12 countries Artemisia Annua is being grown in school gardens and prisons.

Research conducted by Dr. Tobias Arudo from the Kenyatta University of Kenya shows the plant’s repellent properties

against mosquitos and the preventive and curative effects of Artemisia annua tea

against malaria.

DRC - Uvira prisons Although it is forbidden by international law, many youngsters below 18 are to be found in prison in Africa. On top of being deprived of their liberty, these minors - many of whom are innocent - are also generally deprived of their other fundamental rights, among which education. While these vulnerable children are often neglected by national and international actors, some IDAY member associations seek regularisation of their status through interventions in prisons, legal courts and parliaments.

DRC - soap production project The project recently initiated by IDAY-DRC/Uvira aims at giving women victim of rape - and thus treated as pariah by their community - a chance to make a decent living by selling a necessary product: soap. Sales proceeds will be dedicated to the education of their children who are

often just as excluded as their mothers. The project reminds the government that no child may be ostracised from society and school based on the absurd argument that his/her mother has been raped.

KENYA Kamiti prison

Artemisia annua

BENIN & MAURITANIA Congratulations to IDAY-BENIN and IDAY-MAURITANIA (Réseau Mauritanien pour l’Éducation Pour Tous) for obtaining legal status in their country!Sustained efforts have led to this recognition which will facilitate their activities as full-flegde legal entities.

Health education has shown to be efficient in Europe and in the United States to fight diseases. However, it was not always featured on school curricula.

Only at the end of the 19th century did hygiene come up in the public discourse as a solution to eradicate diseases such as cholera or typhus. This led to the setting up on an international office for public hygiene which became the World Health Organisation in 1948.

With the introduction of health education at school, the notion of hygiene became rooted in people’s minds, thereby contributing to the disappearance of many a deadly contagious disease in Northern countries.

Our forefathers still tell us how they had to brush their teeth and wash their hands every morning before entering class. Such mass education rapidly translated into better health.

School has become an efficient channel to disseminate health education. But what can be done against malaria, a disease caused by a mosquito bite? Tooth and nail brushes are powerless to wipe out this parasite from the surface of earth; health education will have little impact as long as no optimal solution is found and that, obviously, education is not accessible to all.

Progress has been made recently thanks to ‘classical’ methods such as impregnated bed nets, early-detection tests, chemical house spraying or Artemisinin Combined Therapy (ACT) medicines.

These efforts allowed to abate the incidence of malaria in a number of countries 1. Yet, these solutions are extremely costly and inaccessible to a majority of people on the continent.

Malaria was not always the prerogative of Africa. In the 1500s some regions of England had malaria-related mortality rates similar to that of Sub-Saharan Africa today. Europe also was still affected in the early 20th century. To put an end to this plight, Northern countries resorted to insecticides and quinine. If these solutions proved

effective, they also generated lasting environmental and health damages. Such methods can therefore hardly be used again.

The consequences of this disease on health and education in Africa are yet unprecedented. It is more than urgent to deal with this problem: every minute, a child dies of malaria in Africa.

An African teacher teaches on average only 400 hours a year, compared to an international standard of 900 teaching hours.3 In Uganda for instance, diseases contribute up to 30% to this absenteeism rate.

Children infected with the disease, some of whom suffer from permanent neurologic damage due to repeated crises, have higher absenteeism rates coupled with slower and harder learning.

Quality education cannot be achieved until malaria is eradicated.

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Healtheducationagainst malaria

Every minute, a child dies of malaria in Africa

The spatial limits of Plasmodium falciparum

Malaria transmission map in 2010 globally2

1. http://www.who.int/malaria/world_malaria_report_2011/fr/index.html2. http://www.map.ox.ac.uk3. UNESCO - World Data on Education 2010/2011

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None of the solutions promoted nowadays by international institutions is global nor efficient enough to eradicate this disease in Africa. Yet initiatives from African civil society are offering a glimmer of hope.

A solution is coming to life in schools with the culture of Artemisia annua. This plant demonstrates, according

to the findings of Dr. Tobias Arudo from Kenyatta University of Kenya,

both repellent properties (plant) and curative ones (tea). The experience

launched in 2010 yields very promising results. Health education could thus find a new momentum on a continent that shows once again its capacity to choose for fair and sustainable solutions.

More info? info@iday.org

Quality education cannot be foreseen until malaria is

eradicated

Malaria seen by Dr Tobias Arudo, lecturer at Kenyatta University (Kenya)

Plasmodium falciparum is the most common and deadly type of malaria infection in Africa. Dr Tobias Arudo, initiator of the “Artemisia annua (antimalarial plant) in schools” project, tells us about the disease in Kenya and solutions for Africa.

What are the consequences of malaria? Does it affect daily life? People affected by malaria develop symptoms including fever, headaches, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and joint pains.

Because of the disease, school going children miss up to 30% of study time. This impacts negatively on learning and academic performance.

As of out of school population, pregnant women are at risk of losing their fetus; poor farmers with no reliable income either waste productive time searching for treatment or spend significant parts of their meager earnings purchasing them.

But treatment does exist...

Yes, and in Kenya the government stepped in to reduce the cost of ACTs down to $ 0,5. Still, rural communities in endemic regions are among the poorest. For people earning less than $ 1 a day, this fare still represents half a day’s work.

Drugs are not recommended to pregnant women and children. What can they do against malaria?

The Artemisia annua plant taken as tea seems to be an optimal treatment for children and pregnant women. Besides

this method, some people now use Artemisia leaves to fumigate their house, or grow the bush near their house to act as a natural repellent protection and reduce the incedence of malaria infection.

Are medicines accessible?

Physically they are. The ACTs are available in shops, kiosks and pharmacies. However their cost is prohibitive to many.

If we continue like this, do you think that the disease will be eradicated one day?

Eradicating malaria requires multisectorial approaches. Health education, environmental management, use of alternative locally available herbal medicines must be incorporated in awareness campaigns.

What do you recommend to fight this plight in Africa?

With the “Artemisia annua against malaria in schools” project, we come to the conclusion that the plant offers a cheap, manageable treatment.

Schools are a very good vector to transfer knowledge on cultivation techniques and use of the plant in its various forms. Families take up the culture for themselves at home, thus fast tracking the management and control of malaria at low cost.

ADVOCATING

FOR ARTEMISIA ANNUA

The IDAY network engages governments to take their responsabilities to guaranty quality education for all. At this condition only, will this right become reality.

The promotion of Artemisia annua to fight malaria in schools is conducted along the same lines.

As much as possible, IDAY members inform and raise awareness among relevant medical and education authorities.

The goal? Have Artemisia annua recognised as an antimalarial treatment and make it accessible to all.

IDAY-SENEGAL was granted approval by the Ministry of Education to test the culture and use of Artemisia annua in 11 schools in the region of Pikine.

IDAY-KENYA approached the Ministry of Health to conduct the much-needed clinical trials to validate the results observed in the field. While the Ministry remains reluctant to get involved at this date, Kenyatta University is willing to embark more actively on research.

IDAY-RWANDA’s strategy is to use the channel of traditional medicine to promote the plant’s medical properties against malaria.

IDAY-TOGO, IDAY-GHANA and IDAY-DRC/KIVU launched awareness campaigns in 2012 on improving health at school, in part with Artemisia annua.

As for IDAY-International and its partners, they strive to foster collaborations between actors that are convinced of

the potential of this plant. They also endeavor to remove all obstacles that stand in the way of its promotion as an efficient means to fight malaria. Following its conference on “Education and Health” held at the European Parliament on 16 June 2011, IDAY-International continues to advocate with various European and International bodies.

World Malaria Day 2012 (25 April) will also be marked with advocacy actions, both in Belgium where IDAY’s headquarters are located and in several African countries.

FIGHTING MALARIA AND MALNUTRITION

IDAY-Uganda initiated a school gardens pilot project with the aim of reducing malaria incidence and improving nutrition for primary and secondary school pupils through enhanced vitamin intake.

This promising experience is about to be replicated by IDAY-DRC, IDAY-BURKINA FASO, IDAY-TOGO and IDAY-KENYA.

School gardens are cultivated by motivated Youth clubs. They are planted with often forgotten plants such as moringa, whose leaves can be cooked like spinach and have a high nutritious value, and many other plants providing beta-carotene, vitamin C, easily assimilated proteins, iron and potassium, but also citrus fruits and legumes.

These school gardens also provide a solution to the problem of malaria thanks to the culture of Artemisia annua, a plant which antimalarial properties are often unknown.

Once informed about the use of these plants, the children can reproduce good practices at home. Their knowledge thus

benefits also to their parents and siblings.

This project fits very well with IDAY’s views of development based on sustainability and solidarity: the first schools are required to produce seedlings and seeds to share with other schools.

The scope of the project will depend a lot on governmental investments, for which IDAY will actively advocate.

THE PROJECT BANK

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Missions.J-J Schul, president and founding member of IDAY, was visiting some of the network’s members in Burundi, DRC and Kenya from 29 February to 8 Mars 2012. Positive energy was in the air ... African coalitions seem to function well. Why are you needed in Africa?

It is a way to demonstrate my support and to share news about the whole network directly with the members.

Moreover, it is sadly true that the presence of a European gives some kind of credibility in the eyes of the governments. We can help open doors. Once the coalitions are recognised by their government, this type of interventions is less needed.

What struck you in particular?

Other than the great dynamism of African civil society? Several prominent professors from Kenyatta University partnered with IDAY-Kenya to demonstrate the validity of our approach to eradicate malaria in schools.

What is also encouraging is UNICEF’s confirmation of its commitment to support us with the funding of a large-scale survey on domestic workers in Burundi, and expectedly in Rwanda as well.

How do you explain UNICEF’s decision?

In the past, UNICEF tried to take domestic workers out of their slave-like condition.

With our approach, they noted that while children would be protected from such hazardous work, domestic workers would be able to obtain a decent work thanks to vocational training.

You have witnessed the effect of Artemisia annua on malaria. What is your opinion on it?

It is an incredible plant against which no resistance has been reported up until now. It is a natural product that is absolutely not toxic, as evidenced by its use by the Chinese for 2000 years. The World Health Organisation (WHO) admits in its last report that the international community does not have the resources to finance the extension of - or even sustain! -

existing campaigns to the whole African population. Artemisia annua is the only product accessible to all with which we can hope to eradicate malaria on this continent.

What actions are still required for every African child to benefit from the plant?

There are two answers to this question. According to many Africans, South-Americans and Europeans who are already treating malaria with Artemisia annua, there is nothing to be done but to inform of the benefits of the plant and accelerate dissemination of its culture and its use. According to official authorities, much more research would need to be conducted in laboratories, followed by clinical tests on the ground to remove all prohibitions against this plant.

Why are you profoundly convinced that Artemisia annua is THE solution to the issue of malaria in Africa?

Scientific research conducted by numerous universities, the fast dissemination of the plant by those who have tested it and the assessments made by independant observers who demonstrate that classical methods are not accessibles to all and too expensive to be sustainable.

As an agronomist, what do you think of the impact of the culture of Artemisia annua on the ecosystem in Africa, knowing that it is not an endemic species?

Just like WWF-Europe, I am confident that as a plant originating from a temperate climate, Artemisia annua is not easy to grow in Africa. There is therefore little danger that it will grow out of central.

What are your expectations from IDAY coalitions today?

I hope for them to be recognized as legitimate representatives of African civil society as it is the only one able to take up the challenge of Africa’s integration in the global development of today’s world economy.

More info? info@iday.org 6

According to many Africans who are already treating malaria with Artemisia annua, there is nothing to be done but to inform of the benefits of the

plant and to disseminate it

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