"I was deeply honored to be part of the celebratory moment! This was a great opportunity to recognize that our community health work is very important for Niger,” Roukaya Saley Abdou proudly exclaimed ahead of a national celebration where she and a select few were recognized for their effort to go above-and-beyond providing essential health services in their communities.
Roukaya lives and works in the Dosso region of Niger, with her husband and young child. It is a close community, with approximately 600 members. In 2021 she attended a Village Assembly led by the regional health officials about the importance of quality, accessible healthcare for her community. Born and raised in the small community, Roukaya felt inspired by this mission to ensure her neighbors – many whom she has known her whole life – stay healthy.
After the Village Assembly, she attended a 10-day training supported by the Niger National Malaria Program and the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative Impact Malaria project to become a community health worker supporting the integrated community case management strategy in the Gaya Health District.
Each year, more than five million children die before the age of five. Most of these children live in sub-Saharan Africa or Central and Southern Asia. Many of these children suffer from infectious diseases including pneumonia and diarrhea, and from malaria and malnutrition and often are experiencing more than one of these illnesses at the same time. These children do not always have easy access to healthcare services. To address these problems, the World Health Organization, UNICEF recommended Integrated Community Case Management as a strategy to extend quality of care to sick children living in remote and hard-to-reach populations with a focus on pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria as well as malnutrition.
Through the Strategy, community health workers like Roukaya provide integrated health care services that overlap across common illnesses in young children so they can be tested and treated for multiple health risks within a single visit. These diseases can be deadly for young children and often present with similar symptoms, such as fever. It is important to test and treat children quickly if they are showing symptoms to ensure they have the best chance of recovery.
“I have personally visited 119 households... My health services are well known to the population, and there are even households in the nearby village of Alpha Koira who are outside of my designated health area that bring their children to my house for these important health services. Seeing how valuable this is for so many families greatly motivates me to continue this work!”
Only a year into her work, Roukaya was identified among the highest performers* in her area to represent the Dosso region at the first annual national community health worker day held by the Ministry of Health in Niger’s capital, Niamey. Not only was she recognized as a stand-out health worker providing essential care for her community, but she received an award.
“When the district chief informed me that I was one of the relays whose work was appreciated by the supervisors from the local, district, regional and central level, I was filled with great joy. To be recognized by the Ministry of Health at the national level is wonderful. Not only was this recognition fulfilling for me personally, but it allowed me to buy a sheep for my family."
Then in March 2023, due to her national recognition, Roukaya was asked to represent her country and other health workers at a global forum celebrating community health workers held in Monrovia, Liberia. She shared that it was surreal for a “small town person” to be alongside members of the national Ministry of Health, leadership from PMI and USAID, and Niger’s PMI Impact Malaria team speaking at a global conference.
True to her recognition for going above-and-beyond for her neighbors, Roukaya serves many roles in her community and is committed to ensuring their health for a long time. “I am in the departmental health insurance process, I participate in the activities of mass campaigns organized by the health district like seasonal malaria chemoprevention and Insecticide Treated Net Mass campaign. I also actively participate in the regular meetings organized by Health Committee under the leadership of the head of Health Facility manager in Bengu. I take great pride in these roles knowing I am helping others live healthy.”
PMI Impact Malaria supports the Niger Ministry of Health and National Malaria Program and five other partner countries (Côte D’Ivoire, Cameroon, Malawi, Mali, and Rwanda) to implement integrated community case management activity which trains and equips community health workers like Roukaya to provide integrated health care to the children who need it most in their communities.
Hamidine, PMI Impact Malaria