The radio as a means to fight malaria and other endemic diseases

In the Dominican Republic and the border area with Haiti, CAF's Social Innovation Initiative promotes a double way model to address the problem, global and community focused, aimed at the elimination of malaria by means of creating a social co-investment mechanism with the Fondo Mundial (World Fund) and the incorporation to the strategy of the local radio Radio Marién, as a powerful tool for communication and community sensitization to provide health education, considering the alarming rates of contagion and morbidity.  

In line with the Millennium Objectives, the implementation of an agreed upon action with actors such as the World Fund and its allies, the Clinton and Gates Foundations, the Carter Center, GIZ, and country donors, at the core of the regional initiative for the "Elimination of Malaria in Middle America and the Island of La Española" (EMMIE, for its acronym in Spanish), is undoubtedly an innovating alliance that provides financial resources, management models, indicators, and proven knowledge at the service of the fight against malaria and other diseases that constitute real public health problems, such as dengue fever, lymphatic filiariasis, chicungunya, intestinal parasites, and schistosomiasis .

At the same time, the permanent action of Radio Marien, lead by Father Guillermo Perdomo and better known as "the educator of the border areas", makes it a strategic actor to increase the penetration of the programs promoted by the State of Santo Domingo through the Centro Nacional de Control de Enfermedades Tropicales (CENCET) (National Center for the Control of Tropical Diseases), to promote fumigation days, controls, and vaccinations that would be difficult to implement without the support of the radio. The radio's actions also help increase and complement public policies regarding education, health, and natural disasters. 

This project is implemented in the Dominican Republic's Dajabon province, and it will possibly expand to the other northwestern provinces of this country and to the border community of Ouanaminthe in Haiti.  The objective is to promote social changes based on the local organization of community groups associated to radio Marien, where the Unión de Centros de Madres Mujeres Fronterizas stands out. 

In this respect, the promotion, health education, and community participation actions, promoted by these organizations to encourage social changes that contribute to improve the life conditions of the population, are essential. It is also essential to strengthen these organizations to create a local development platform that may soon incorporate children and youths from schools, including an educational unit for special children. 

The project also includes activities in the penitentiary center of Dajabon, where inmates participate in a remote or in person educational program carried out by Radio Marien.