Cambodians Fight Malaria With the Push of a Button

As part of an ambitious bid to wipe out malaria by 2025, Cambodia has begun training up several thousand villagers to act as foot soldiers in the fight against drug-resistant forms of the disease -- with a little help from mobile phone technology.

Published

8 months ago

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Health

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Texting

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Cambodia

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malaria

Transcript

SCRIPT: Fever, headache, lethargy – a common set of symptoms for those coming to this makeshift health clinic in Pailin province on the Cambodia-Thai border. Volunteer village health worker, Long Vuthy, takes the patient’s blood sample and tests for malaria - a parasitic disease spread by mosquitoes. A positive or negative result is confirmed within minutes. This region is a hotspot for a drug-resistant strain of malaria, and it’s critical that patients get help as soon as possible. SOUNDBITE 1 Long Vuthy (man), Volunteer health worker (Khmer, 11 sec): "The malaria here in our village in Pailin province can kill people in a short period of time if we don’t have the right treatment." Malaria resistant to regular forms of treatment was confirmed in western Cambodia eight years ago, likely as a result of patients taking an incorrect or incomplete course of anti-malarial drugs. To control the spread of this drug-tolerant form, health workers must catch cases early and ensure patients strictly follow the right treatment plan. Now, this is being made easier through an SMS alert system, a pilot project involving some 230 volunteers across four provinces. Village malaria workers provide details of any new cases in a mobile phone text message that - in a second – is forwarded to regional anti-malaria workers, as well as the national Ministry of Health. Pengby Ngor trains health workers how to use the system. SOUNDBITE 2 Pengby Ngor (man), Malaria Consortium Data Manager (Khmer, 11 sec): "It’s easy for them to send the information up to a national level, or to staff at the local health centre. In this way there can be intervention and the patient can get treatment quickly." While villages here can be remote with poor road access, they’re often still within reach of the mobile phone network. Once the SMS alert is sent out, a blood sample is quickly collected and double-checked to ensure the diagnosis, and therefore treatment, is correct. The system also maps new malaria cases using Google Earth, allowing health workers to monitor trends and take swift action. SOUNDBITE 3 Meas Tha (man), Deputy Director, National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control (English, 8 sec): "The effectiveness lies in the fact that it’s quick. There’s no delay time for the patient so their condition won’t become more serious." Preventative measures have already helped Cambodia reduce malaria infection rates. But with the continued threat of the drug-resistant strain, health workers know they'll have to continue innovating to snare this deadly disease. SHOTLIST: PAILIN PROVINCE, CAMBODIA, JULY 5, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV - Pan of a man entering a makeshift health clinic in Phnom Dambang Village in Pailin Province - A man having his temperature taken - VAR of village malaria worker, Long Vuthy, taking a blood sample - The blood sample and malaria test kit - VAR of a man nailing up a malaria warning sign SOUNDBITE 1 - A motorbike driving on a dirt road - Exterior of a wooden house in Phnom Dambang village - Women sorting corn under the shade of trees - Various of a patient being tested for malaria - Various of village malaria worker Long Vuthy using a mobile phone to send an SMS - A regional anti-malaria worker receiving an SMS - Establishing shot of Pengby Ngor training a regional health worker SOUNDBITE 2 - A motorbike driving on a dirt road - A man talking on a mobile phone - A regional anti-malaria worker driving away from the makeshift health clinic after collecting the blood sample - A regional health worker looking into a microscope DATE/LOCATION UNKNOWN, SOURCE: MALARIA CONSORTIUM - NO RESALE FOR NON-EDITORIAL PURPOSES - Various stills of the malaria data mapped using Google Earth PAILIN PROVINCE, CAMBODIA, JULY 5, 2012, SOURCE: AFPTV SOUNDBITE 3 - A mosquito net being used in a family home - A malaria mosquito warning sign - A mobile phone screen showing a "message sent" sign ///