This year, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) launched a new pilot program in Aweil, South Sudan, to prevent children under five from getting malaria—the country's leading cause of death.
Called seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC), the strategy involves giving antimalarial medication to children once a month for five months during the rainy season—July to November—when malaria cases peak. MSF teams are currently working to reach 25,000 children in 19 villages.
Those who live in remote areas where transportation is hard to access are particularly vulnerable. Awien Atuk Makak, a local resident, tried to get her sick daughter to a clinic for treatment last year. “Doctors tried to save her but it was too late when we got there,” she said.
