Mobile health unit enables malaria interventions in rural Tanzania
Today is World Malaria Day. Pregnant women and children are particularly at risk from malaria. However, people living in the remote Malinyi district of Tanzania have limited access to healthcare. Thanks to SolidarMed's mobile health unit, the rural population can be tested for malaria and treated if necessary. SolidarMed also carries out prevention work by organising awareness-raising events and distributing mosquito nets.
In 2024, Tanzania accounted for an estimated 8.5 million (3.2 per cent) of global malaria cases and 4.3 per cent of malaria deaths. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), malaria is the second leading cause of death in Tanzania – deaths that could be prevented. The Malinyi district in the Kilombero Valley is one of Tanzania's remote rural regions. The risk of malaria is very high here due to frequent flooding and the wetlands surrounding the river. This affects the nearly quarter of a million people who live here. The long distances to the nearest health facility are a health threat, especially for children under five and pregnant women.
Test, treatment, prevention
To improve access to healthcare for the affected population and thus reduce the risk of malaria infection, SolidarMed has been operating a mobile health unit since September 2023 (financed by the Polarlys Foundation). The people who visit the mobile clinic are mostly very poor and many live as semi-nomads, which makes access to healthcare facilities very difficult and limited. Last year, the team travelled 146 times to a total of 13 villages and treated a total of 28,662 patients with various health problems. The focus was on testing, treatment and prevention.
695 people came to the mobile health unit with fever and malaria-like symptoms. 619 women and 76 men were tested. 52 men and 79 women had malaria. As the necessary medication was available in the mobile clinic, these patients could begin treatment immediately and complications were prevented. In Tanzania, all pregnant women must be tested for malaria during their first prenatal check-up. The mobile health unit also tested 648 pregnant women for malaria, 25 of whom tested positive and received treatment. Without the mobile clinic, the risk of complications for the women and their unborn children would have been high. The SolidarMed team also provided 248 pregnant women with malaria prevention medication to protect both the expectant mothers and their unborn children, and 318 pregnant women received mosquito nets.
As already mentioned, children under the age of five are also at risk of malaria. To protect the children and their families, the team of the mobile health unit distributed mosquito nets to 693 girls and 548 boys. Once on site, SolidarMed staff educated the villagers on malaria prevention, explaining how to use the insecticide-treated mosquito nets. Such awareness-raising events are very important.
Fewer cases and interruption of transmission cycles
SolidarMed's activities include information, prevention, early diagnosis and treatment, and have made a significant contribution to improving malaria control in the Malinyi district. The mobile clinic has enabled remote villages to be provided with important tests and treatments, significantly reducing the need for long journeys to health facilities. Timely treatment of malaria cases has also prevented serious illness, complications and deaths, particularly among pregnant women and young children. The distribution of preventive medication to pregnant women and mosquito nets to children helps to reduce the number of new malaria cases and break the cycle of transmission in vulnerable groups. The mobile clinic team's awareness campaigns have equipped the local population with the knowledge and resources to protect themselves and their families from malaria.
