ANGOLA
Overview
The Anglican Diocese of Center and South, Angola accelerates malaria control and elimination through the facilitation of community action against the disease.
The Diocese is guided by Angola's National Malaria Strategic Plan, and implements Isdell:Flowers Cross Border Malaria Initiative work as part of the Trans Kunene Malaria Initiative (TKMI).
The Isdell:Flowers Cross Border Malaria Initiative emphasizes a regional, cross-border approach. This is because national borders in the region are porous and frequently crossed as part of daily life. The elimination of malaria in Angola and its neighboring countries, at least in part, depends on a collective ability to control malaria at the shared borders.
The Anglican Diocese of Center and South, Angola supports community malaria volunteers and health workers in maintaining demand for – and increasing access to – malaria prevention and treatment services within 6 municipalities that border Namibia and Zambia.
The Isdell:Flowers program areas in Angola and the neighboring municipalities are outlined below. To download the map as a PDF, click here.
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MALARIA WORK IN ACTION
Local malaria volunteers provide education to their communities
Community malaria volunteers and health workers collectively conduct tens of thousands of household teaching visits each year. During these teaching visits, volunteers encourage families to use insecticide treated nets consistently and correctly, and they encourage households to accept indoor residual spraying – an effective intervention for decreasing malaria transmission. Volunteers also discuss the importance of early testing and treatment for people who have malaria symptoms.
Community Malaria Elimination Committees (COCEMAs) develop local solutions to malaria elimination challenges
The Diocese of Center and South, Angola equips malaria-affected communities with the knowledge and tools necessary to work towards malaria control and elimination. Community representatives – including faith leaders, teachers, and mothers – have formed 12 Community Malaria Elimination Committees (COCEMAs) in Cunene and Cuando Cubango provinces. COCEMAs oversee malaria elimination activities within their own communities, and they resolve barriers to elimination.
Malaria field agents partner with the government to provide malaria training to influential community members
Local faith leaders and teachers are some of the most influential leaders in a community. The Diocese of Center and South, Angola partners with the local government to train faith leaders and teachers on malaria elimination. Once trained, they share their knowledge and encourage their congregants, families, and students to become malaria elimination advocates. Malaria field agents also conduct malaria teaching in churches and schools, reaching as many people as possible with impactful malaria knowledge.
Community Health Workers (ADECOS) provide community-based malaria testing and treatment services to those with fevers
182 Community Health Workers (ADECOS) regularly test for malaria and treat simple cases in remote areas without access to health facilities or other community testing. The Diocese of Center and South, Angola collaborates with the Provincial Health departments in Cuando Cubango and Cunene to train and supervise the ADECOS.
Malaria volunteers and field agents prevent malaria in pregnancy
The Diocese of Center and South, Angola collaborates with the Provincial Health Department of Cunene and Cuando Cubango to improve coverage of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp) by training and supporting malaria volunteers who make follow-up visits to the households of pregnant women.
Providing urgent support and partnership to meet local needs
The Diocese of Center and South, Angola steps in to support urgent needs as they arise. When three community health posts shut down in 2020, the Diocese provided financial support to keep them staffed and open. Likewise when several community health posts were unstaffed, the Diocese supported stipends for temporary nurses. Diocesan program coordinators also contribute to important forums, such as the Cunene Province chapter of the Forum of Malaria Partners.
DATA FOR DECISION MAKING
Collecting and using local data for programmatic decision making
In partnership with the J.C. Flowers Foundation, the Diocese of Center and South, Angola carries out an annual survey to measure changes in levels of malaria knowledge, attitudes, and key malaria prevention practices among households located in villages that are a part of the TKMI program. This data is used by the Diocese of Center and South and those affected by malaria to guide program planning and prioritization. Click the button below to view Angola's 2022 KAP survey results.
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VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
Justina Mahongo
Community Malaria Volunteer
Kangongo Village in Cuando Cubango, Angola
Justina's Story
"There was a time when our community did not know about the dangers of malaria....Many people in the community were dying form untreated malaria, especially children under five. One day my own sister fell ill, so we took her to a traditional healer who said that she must be treated with goat's blood.
For over a month her condition deteriorated, until we took her to a health facility in Namibia where she tested positive for malaria and received anti-malarial treatment. After completing the anti-malarial treatment, her symptoms resolved completely.
My sister's experience with malaria made my family realize that malaria was an extremely dangerous and fatal disease, but one that can be cured if treated properly.
Since then, I joined Isdell:Flowers as a community malaria volunteer.... [I] made it my mission to spread correct information about malaria to my community.
Now, because of our work as community malaria volunteers, most of the community members can now recognize signs of malaria and know to go directly to the health facility for testing and proper treatment."
- Justina Mahongo
FLAME ANGOLA
Faith Leader Advocacy for Malaria Elimination (FLAME)
The Anglican Diocese of Center and South, Angola is a member of the Faith Leader Advocacy for Malaria Elimination (FLAME) Initiative in Angola.
Angola's FLAME coalition is an interfaith commission committed to national level advocacy for malaria elimination.
The coalition, launched in January 2020, amplifies the voices of religious leaders who are advocating for malaria elimination in a manner that is aligned with the country's National Malaria Control Programme. It is led by the leaders of the Anglican Church, of the Christian Council of Churches, and of Caritas Angola (the social action arm of the Catholic Episcopal Conference of Angola and São Tomé).
FLAME creates an enabling environment for malaria elimination by generating a groundswell of public support and a culture of malaria advocacy. FLAME leadership aims to ensure that all faith leaders have sufficient knowledge to educate their congregants and mobilize them to take personal action to prevent malaria.
There are currently 370 registered FLAME Angola faith leaders. In addition to the national FLAME collation, there are five provincial FLAME coalitions, which meet regularly with Provincial health authorities. FLAME leaders are promoting and raising national awareness around the Ministry of Health’s mass net distribution campaign and are mobilizing networks of faith leaders to help monitor local distribution so that all households have access. At the provincial level, FLAME chapters are also elevating malaria issues within the Provincial CACS (Consultation and Social Conciliation Councils) and are diagnosing and helping collaborate in finding solutions for problems such as commodity stock outs.
Learn more about FLAME by clicking the buttons below.
THE DIOCESE OF
CENTER & SOUTH, ANGOLA,
MALARIA WORK IN NUMBERS
227
ADECOS in Cunene Province were trained on malaria transmission, prevention, and case management
Year:
2022
7,500
people attended community malaria meetings in churches and schools in Cuando Cubango
6,832
suspected malaria cases were identified by ADECOS in Cuando Cubango, of whom 571 tested positive and were treated
919
Pregnant women were visited at their households throughout their pregnancies to ensure they were receiving antenatal care and taking intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy (IPTp)
30
clergy members were trained on key malaria principles, and subsequently delivered 49 malaria lectures in churches
ANGOLA TEAM
National Leadership
The Right Reverend Pedro Jamba
Bishop, Diocese of Center and South
Reverend Elias Mbala
Diocesan Director, Community Development Programs
João Lino Rafael
National Advocacy Coordinator, FLAME
Miguel Arcanjo
Finance Manager
Emília Wime
Focal Point and Coordinator, TKMI
João Baptista Nelo
Coordinator, TKMI
Cunene Province
Maria Rita Luis
Logistic Assistant, TKMI
Josefina Memoli
Administrative Assistant, TKMI
Jason Mwayoma
Field Officer, TKMI
Emilia Ndalimbililwa
IPTp Field Officer, TKMI
Constáncio Papecas
Driver, TKMI
Heleni Portásio
Provincial Supervisor, TKMI
Honorato Shomupangeli
Field Officer, TKMI
Cuando Cubango Province
Augusto Kambinda
Field Supervisor, Demand Creation, TKMI
Matias Kudumo
Field Supervisor, Demand Creation, TKMI
Sandraque Livingue
Field Supervisor, Caila, TKMI
José Muhunga
Field Supervisor, Kambumbu
Belarmina Sandambongo
Administration and Finance Assistant, TKMI
Isac Pereira Sayunga
Field Supervisor, Demand Creation, TKMI
Mateus Tchangano
Field Coordinator and Logistician, TKMI
Communities affected by malaria are at the heart of this work. Malaria elimination is possible because of committed volunteers and activists, teachers, faith and traditional leaders, and mobilized communities.
