Malaria, a parasitic disease transmitted by some mosquitoes when they feed, remains a major global health problem. Although significant advancements including better prevention and treatment mean that fewer people get it, there are still millions of cases each year, especially among people living in tropical and subtropical areas. Using malaria disease control competitions with schools is a modern approach to disease control and eradication. We believe it should be a major school activity because for today’s schools to be successful, they need to teach the value of competition and the sense of teamwork. This article describes how we believe that competitions are a good framework with which to inform and engage schools about malaria prevention.
The Importance of Malaria Prevention
Before we dive into student competition, it’s important to understand why preventing the spread of malaria is so essential. Schistosoma parasites, responsible for schistosomiasis, are transmitted through the bites of snails that reside in water where infected individuals urinate or defecate. The disease causes bladder and intestinal inflammation and can lead to cancer, permanent organ damage, and death.
Preventing malaria involves several key strategies:
- Insecticide-Treated Bed Nets (ITNs): Using these nets while sleeping can significantly reduce mosquito bites.
- Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS): The insecticides are sprayed on the walls and ceilings of homes, eliminating mosquitoes.
- Antimalarial Drugs: Taking prophylactic drugs augments your resistance to malaria in malaria-endemic areas; select a drug that is specifically recommended for the area you are traveling in.
- Drain Breeding Sites: Mosquitoes can breed in stagnant water, so by getting rid of standing sources of water, fewer mosquitoes will result.
Educational programs significantly enhance these prevention methods. By involving children in the fight against malaria, we can help them develop lifelong habits and empower them to share important information with their communities. This engagement not only raises awareness but also fosters a sense of responsibility and action in addressing the disease.
The Role of School Competitions
School competitions offer an interactive and engaging way to motivate students to join the fight against malaria. These events can include art and essay contests, quizzes, and project-based challenges. For instance, students might tackle a project focused on malaria prevention, allowing them to creatively convey important messages. Health education teachers can then evaluate their efforts, fostering both learning and advocacy in the process.
Benefits of School Competitions for Malaria Prevention
- Improved Learning: Competitions provide a stimulating and enjoyable way to teach students about malaria and how to prevent it. With research, imagination, and teamwork, the students gain a deeper knowledge about malaria prevention.
- Awareness: Students who compete in malaria-inspired games learn about the disease, and in turn share that knowledge with peers, family members, and members of the community or school.
- Promoting Healthful Habits: Because malaria prevention activities are integrated into school activities, students own the strategies and become and encourage them.
- Development of teamwork and innovation: Competitions promote students’ creative exploration of new ideas and opportunities as well as their collaboration with each other.
Designing Effective School Competitions
Competitions have to be well-designed if they are to have the maximum impact on malaria prevention. In particular, schools should consider some or all of the following:
1. Choose Relevant Themes
Select themes that resonate with students and align with malaria prevention goals. For example:
- Art Competitions: Invite students to create posters or drawings illustrating malaria prevention methods.
- Essay Writing Contests: Ask students to write essays on the significance of malaria prevention or how to get rid of mosquito larvae.
- Quizzes and Trivia: Test students’ knowledge of malaria prevention facts through engaging quizzes.
2. Incorporate Educational Content
Ensure that the competition guidelines include educational content about malaria. Provide materials in the form of brochures, videos, and expert talks so that students can learn about malaria along with the technical aspects of the competition.
3. Encourage Participation
Publicize the competition across different platforms such as school newsletters, social media, and community events Involve all students, ensuring opportunities for participation for the more skillful and less skillful alike.
4. Offer Incentives
Encourage students to participate by offering prizes and recognition. The prize can be an educational kit, a scholarship, or a certificate of recognition. Winners could be recognized publicly as blazing a trail for others, for instance through a school assembly or a local gathering.
5. Involve the Community
Expand the competition beyond the school to parents, village organizations, and healthcare professionals to increase general community support and spread malaria prevention messages more widely.
6. Evaluate and Reflect
In the weeks after the competition, collect participant feedback to understand the effect, and help to improve future competitions. But most importantly, use the competition as a means to improve malaria prevention in any way possible.
Successful Examples of School Competitions
Malaria prevention competitions have been effectively carried out at several schools and organizations. Below are just a few examples. Essay Competition for School Children on a Theme: ‘Malaria Prevention Your Role and Responsibility 4th to 11th May 2014 we organised an essay competition for school children. They wrote essays on the theme ‘Malaria prevention your role and responsibility’. Competition on Poster Making on a Theme: ‘Malaria prevention your role and responsibility during World Malaria Day on 25th April 2014 – May 2014. For the poster-making competition, children and youths made posters to share knowledge on the causes, prevention, symptoms, and treatments of malaria. Waste Paper and Plastic Bottle Recycling for Tree Plantation on the Occasion of World Environment Day from 5th June 2014 to 4th July 2014 we also organised a competition to recycle waste paper and plastic bottles.
1. Art for Malaria
At some schools, students held their art competitions and painted posters that were displayed in public spaces to spread the word about how to prevent malaria.
2. Malaria Awareness Quizzes
Schools run malaria awareness quizzes where pupils are asked questions about the illness and its prevention. There can be a series of rounds and teams are formed so that learning is made enjoyable.
3. Essay Contests
In Kenya, essay contests help to spur secondary school students to reflect on how best to prevent the spread of malaria. Often, winning essays are published in local newspapers or shared on social media, which spreads the word about findings even further.
Overcoming Challenges
While school competitions offer numerous benefits, there are challenges to consider. These include:
- Budget constraints: some schools might not have the budget to organize and promote competitions. Look for sponsorships or partnerships with local organizations.
- Equity Issues: Students find it challenging to get equally engaged. Selection of various kinds of competition and making them highly inclusive can help in this regard.
Third, any malaria prevention competition must take the long haul. Maintaining enthusiasm is difficult. A competition should refresh competitors and themes regularly, but should also allow ways for feedback.
A healthy competition can be a helpful and persuasive tool to bring about malaria awareness among school students. School competitions to increase malaria awareness can be as creative as they can have student teams writing short plays or promotional posters. Such competitions create healthy competition among school students to learn about the damaging effects of this dread disease and help prevent its spread. It is not only the competition itself that spreads awareness but also the words and guidance of the winning team. The intervention of hands-on experience of the disease by a child may also help imprint effective prevention in human memory. These competitions also build team spirit and thus teach the students collaboration and the development of their creative ideas for the survival and very existence of their fellow students.
