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Angola: real lives   In the Chipipa commune in Angola, malaria, malnutrition, diarrhea, respiratory infections and measles are the most common diseases that affect children under five. Children and pregnant women are at highest risk for malaria, which is the number one cause of death in Angola. The effects of malaria on pregnancy include anemia, low birth weight, abortion, and frequently fatal congenital malaria. One method of preventing malaria is residual spraying of houses to get rid of mosquitoes, cockroaches, ticks and other pests that infest homes. Carolina had her house sprayed and found it very beneficial. "Before the spraying, I used to think about sleeping outside (in the backyard) because of those ticks, mosquitoes and other insects. They didn't allow me to sleep!" Carolina had her house sprayed a second time when she found how well it worked. "I was very happy when the people came with the spray, I did not want them to miss my house. I told them 'for my children, please, put the spray in all the corners of the house." A malaria survey was also conducted in the community. The results showed members knew very little about the symptoms of the disease. Others had never heard of malaria or confused it with symptoms of other diseases.
One community member stated, "Even if we went to the health post,
they would not give us medicine. They would only give us a
prescription to buy it in the local market, but we do not have
the money to buy the medicines. Some people sought help from
people who treat diseases with traditional herbs instead." "Before, we did not know that mosquito nets were important for malaria prevention," said a community member. "We used them for other purposes instead. But now that we know that mosquito nets protect us from the mosquito bites and kill the mosquitoes, this will keep us from getting sick."
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