Project Abstract
The aim of this project is to come up with a group of healthcare providers that will carry out medical caravans, particularly visiting villages in located in Niger whereby women are actually the most affected by CVD (Cardiovascular Diseases) as well as SRHR (sexual reproductive health and rights). Our team will conduct screening for HIV, CVD, diabetes, malaria, hepatitis and hypertension. We will also offer medical consultations and provide health education together with evidence-based treatment. We are also going to identify and enlist women suffering from Obstetrical fistula as well as those at risk of the disease and will then direct them to our team’s medical center for both empowerment and treatment.

Project Description

The project, collectively designed by our team of medical personnel “CARAVAN OF HOPE” will mainly concentrate on screening as well as management of women with cardiovascular diseases, malaria, HIV, diabetes, hepatitis, and hypertension. Our team is also going to identify women with, and those at risk of Obstetrical fistula to provide them with both psychological and medical support.

Apart from our main intervention area, we will also include two regions having the highest child marriage prevalence, Maradi and Zinder. We are going to target the remote villages in each of the two regions that are situated far away from the community medical centers.

The remote villages to be included in the project will be chosen by the project’s management committee based on clear criterion:

1. Absence of any community medical center at a distance of over 5km,

2. Absence of any secondary public school, which implies that girls are mostly exposed to early marriages,

3. Persistence of various cultural practices in the village like KAME (whereby girls get promised at the age of 4, have the wedding arranged when they are about 15 years, though a bit earlier for those girls that do not go to school),

The initial six months will be mainly dedicated to the screening as well as management of those women with HIV, CVD, malaria, hepatitis, diabetes, and hypertension and also enlisting those women suffering from obstetrical fistula. It is at this initial phase that women with fistula are going to receive socio-psychological counseling.

The project’s second phase will be later during the second six months whereby those women suffering from obstetrical fistula will be directed to Raouda Health Center for empowerment and treatment.

Target Groups

The primary beneficiaries of the project will be young, adult, as well as elderly women from poor socio-economic backgrounds and are staying in Niger’s rural areas.

There will be three sites of intervention:

1. Tahoua (Tchintabaraden, the region’s community with the least access rate to community medical services, 23.75 percent)

2. Maradi (Dakora, the region’s community with the least access rate to community medical services, 25.08 percent)

3. Zinder (Tanout, the region’s community with the least access rate to community medical services 30.66 percent)

Objectives

The specific aims of this projects are:

1. To screen and manage women with HIV, malaria, diabetes, hypertension, and hepatitis: 400 women

2. To conduct obstetrical fistula repair as well as social re-insertion for victims: 10 women

3. To promote health education for women

4. To offer preventive health care and medical care to women

5. To empower women to be active participants in the identification and solving of health issues

6. To raise awareness regarding Obstetrical Fistula and assist to reduce its prevalence and impact on the affected women as well as the community

7. To assist with the re-insertion of those women that are victims of obstetrical fistula back into the community

8. To promote access to reproductive health services

9. To challenge stigma, negative laws, and discrimination

10. To stop violence against women

Background and Significance

According to the Human Development Index of 2019, Niger is grouped among the poorest countries in the world, and more than 50 percent of its population survive with less than a dollar per day. Most of the population in Niger does not have access to basic medical care services. As per the Ministry of Health, 51.7 percent of Niger citizens cannot access the minimum package services that are being provided in public healthcare (Health Ministry, 2016). The group that is mostly affected by this situation is poor women staying in the remote rural parts of the country.

There is considerable healthcare difference between women and men in Niger. For instance, according to the World Bank (2015) about 90 percent of female adolescents in the country undergo the dangerous and unhygienic female genital mutilation practice that puts them at risk compared to no boys who undergo the same practice. In spite of the implementation of free medical care for children under the age of five and pregnant women, in majority of the community health facilities in the rural areas, patients are still needed to pay for services. Most women opt to stay home even when they are sickly since they cannot afford the consultation charges or the treatment medicines. Subsequently, diseases like VIC, CVD, malaria, and hepatitis continue being...
The project will take place in two phases: the first phase will be in the first six months and the second phase will be the second six months. During the first phase, the project will focus on diagnosing and treating various cardiovascular diseases, malaria, Hepatitis, HIV/AIDs, and diabetes in targeted areas. The first phase will also involve spreading awareness about the negative effects of early marriages and about sexually transmitted diseases. Lastly, the first phase of the project will also involve the identification of women with obstetrical fistulas and proving them with counselling as they await surgical interventions.

In the second phase of the project, there will be a continuation of the awareness-raising activities in the targeted areas as the women identified in the first place await surgery. So the goals will be achieved by raising awareness, screening, surgical interventions, and culturally-aware management. By educating the villages and the village people about the negative effects of early marriage and gender-violence, there is hope that there will be fewer new cases and that the stigma surrounding the disease will reduce or be eliminated.

4. Timetable

Phase 1: First Six Months: Objectives include treating common conditions, raising awareness about reproductive health, and identifying women with fistula.

Phase 2 : Second Six Months: Objectives include designing surgical interventions for the women and subsequent care plans, and continuing to provide care.

7. Dissemination of Research Findings

The research findings will be disseminated through local and international radio and TV stations such as Radio France International. They will also be disseminated through caravans and meetings with village people. It is hoped that the testimonies the beneficiaries will have will also spread the news about benefits of the research. Lastly, the research findings will also be disseminated through publication in international journals.

8. Intended Deliverables and Measurable Outcomes

This project could help reduce the incidence of fistula in the City of Tahoua and surrounding villages. It could also help reduce new cases of the disease in the country and the high number of child marriages happening especially in rural areas. In the end, it could be just what helps to start the turnaround in the Niger’s Ministry of Health’s fight against fistula, maternal deaths, and other sexual reproductive problems.

B. Provide an explanation for how the form of the deliverable will help meet the goals of the project.

C. Provide a description of how the research team will measure the potential impact of the project for advancing positive social change. For example, who would be impacted, to…