School-based initiatives to reduce malaria morbidity and promote academic achievement in children
Date
2020
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Sun Media
Abstract
In sub-Saharan Africa, the challenge of addressing illnesses related to the
developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) is compounded by other
determinants of health, most notably the impact of poverty and infectious disease.
Research has identified social factors to be the root cause of inequities in health
that involve both non-communicable and infectious diseases, hence the calls for
remedial action to involve social and treatment strategies.
There is a recognised need for school programmes to educate the next generation
about DOHaD, so that young people gain a measure of ‘health independence’
through learned knowledge, acquired skills and positive behaviours with the
potential to improve the future health of their offspring. However, this goal is at
risk when other adverse social determinants of health exist, and especially where infectious diseases are endemic, and morbidity from infection among school
children is high. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, malaria is the principal reason
a child will be absent from school. How long a child is absent is a well-accepted
measure of the severity of morbidity from malaria. Such absences can be of long
duration, and associated residual cognitive compromise can compound the
negative impact of malaria on a child’s ability to learn.
For this reason, school-based strategies to advance knowledge about DOHaD
in sub-Saharan Africa will benefit where school-based programmes addressing
malaria are offered in parallel. A variety of educational approaches able to advance
knowledge and provide practical skills related to DOHaD lend themselves to
parallel programmes. For example, programmes can follow policies to advance the
United Nations (UN)’ ‘Sustainable Development Goals’, adopt global strategies
to promote the education of girls and implement the World Health Organization
(WHO)’s ‘Health-Promoting School’ model. Malaria morbidity exemplifies how
health inequity can negatively impact a child’s ability to benefit from education.
However, simple and effective school-based approaches exist that can positively
impact morbidity, provide access to diagnostic and treatment services, reduce
absence due to illness and increase the capacity of large numbers of children
to learn.
This chapter reviews global efforts to reduce the impact of malaria on children's
health, improve their ability to attend school, enhance their potential for academic
achievement and minimise their risk of cognitive impairment. It also describes a
successful and inexpensive community participatory intervention model based on
WHO-endorsed diagnostic and treatment principles, that also follows the 2017
Lancet Commission’s current recommendations on the future of health in sub-
Saharan Africa to use ‘non-traditional outlets’, ‘people-centred approaches’ and
‘improved tools’ to address health challenges. This model is suitable for use in
schools worldwide where malaria is endemic and can be offered in parallel with
school-based strategies to engage youth in the context of the DOHaD agenda.
Description
CITATION: Macnab, A. J. 2020. School-based initiatives to reduce malaria morbidity and promote academic achievement in children, in Macnab, A., Daar, A. & Pauw, C. 2020. Health in transition : translating developmental origins of health and disease science to improve future health in Africa. Stellenbosch: SUN PReSS, doi:10.18820/9781928357759/14.
The original publication is available at https://africansunmedia.store.it.si/za
The original publication is available at https://africansunmedia.store.it.si/za
Keywords
Diseases -- Africa, Malaria, Children -- Diseases, Health education -- Africa
Citation
Macnab, A. J. 2020. School-based initiatives to reduce malaria morbidity and promote academic achievement in children, in Macnab, A., Daar, A. & Pauw, C. 2020. Health in transition : translating developmental origins of health and disease science to improve future health in Africa. Stellenbosch: SUN PReSS, doi:10.18820/9781928357759/14.