Women's kitty at frontline of fight against malaria

In this dusty corner of southern Benin, sisters are really doing it for themselves. Thanks to a communal kitty, the women of Seme are providing their families with insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect them from the ravages of malaria, which kills one African child every 30 seconds. The women save together in groups of 10 into what is known as a 'tontine', with each one chipping in about 150 CFA (30 US cents) a week. But instead of taking it in turns to pocket the pooled funds, the weekly winner takes home a mosquito net. More money then gets pumped into providing more nets. "Thanks to this kitty, my whole family sleeps under insecticide-treated mosquito nets today," said Sabine Godonou, a sugar cane seller in the coastal town that lies near the Nigerian border. "There's a lot of low-lying land which is why we grow sugar cane here, but it's also why there's always a lot of mosquitoes," Godonou explained, squatting in the red dirt in front of a row of single-storey brick houses without running water or electricity. In Africa, malaria causes 18 percent of deaths in children under five. But the World Health Organisation believes that using treated nets and having speedy access to drugs can prevent 90 percent of malaria fatalities. "The tontines are a great scheme because they let women who have very little money to buy nets obtain them without taking on a huge financial burden," explained Honorine Attikpa, the president of local NGO, Female Dignity. "Let's face it, it would be difficult for them to splash out 1,500 CFA (US $3) in one go to buy a net," she added. "And having a mosquito net then also relieves families of having to buy budget-swallowing malaria treatment." UN officials estimate that malaria costs Africa US $12 billion a year, and that poor families spend up to a quarter of their income on protecting themselves against the illness and on treatment. Benin, sandwiched between Togo and Nigeria, is ranked as one of the 20 poorest countries in the world by the United Nations Development Programme. The average family earns just US $440 a year, according to data from the World Bank. Better health, healthier finances In Seme, 20 km east of Benin's capital Cotonou, roadside petrol vendor Claude Metondji knows first-hand how much mosquito nets can improve family life on the financial as well as the health front. "Before, there wasn't a month when either me, my wife or my kids didn't have to go to the health centre because of malaria," he told IRIN. "But my wife joined the tontine two years ago and now we all sleep under mosquito nets and we don't have to spend money on anti-malaria medicine." The tontine scheme started back in 1998 when the National Programme to Fight Malaria (PNLP) piloted the scheme in five areas of the West African country including Seme, handing out an initial stock of mosquito nets. The money collected in the kitty then provided the capital for the women to buy more supplies of the nets and extend the lifespan of the anti-malaria scheme. The project was also extended across Benin to reach more of the nation's seven million people. And according to Esperat Kintossou of the PNLP, mosquito net coverage has shot up in the last four years. In 2001, a national survey found that just five percent of Benin's residents were using mosquito nets, Kintossou said. But in 2004, coverage stood at 40 percent. Nonetheless, Health Minister Dorothee Kinde Gazard acknowledges there is much work to be done if Benin is to hit the target set at a summit of African leaders in Nigeria in 2000. The so-called Abuja declaration aimed to have 60 percent of people sleeping under mosquito nets by 2005. "We are far from the goal although Benin is one of the more advanced in its fight against malaria," Gazard told reporters last month. "We will work with the help of international donors to reach the target between now and the end of the year." Back in Seme, the women at the forefront of the fight against the potentially deadly disease are determined to continue their work. They have seen the benefits not just in terms of their own family's health but also in financial spin-offs. Some women are now involved in making the nets, for which they earn a small wage. In the shade of a rudimentary building one group cuts the netting to size and sews the pieces together; another group douses the netting in insecticide and hangs it out to dry. As well as supplying the nets for the kitty, they also sell them to the other inhabitants in this town of 3,000. And as profits grow and more and more of the tontine members have their families sleeping under the nets, the women in the kitty can start branching out. "Now in addition to the kitty financing mosquito nets, we can also afford to run sewing projects," said Marcelline De Souza-Dade, who runs three tontines known collectively as Mahumetin. "We also hope to set up an equipment and loan fund so we can improve the financial situation of women both in the tontines and more widely in the area."