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Lasting Grassroots Impact.

Amaniyo is a one-year-old girl from Odravu Parish in Dadamu Sub-County. At the time of the IHDI home visit, her mother reported that she had been experiencing fever for three days, accompanied by loss of appetite. In an attempt to manage the fever, the mother administered half a tablet of paracetamol. However, she had not taken Amaniyo to a health facility, explaining that the nearest health center is far from their home and transport by boda boda costs 5,000 shillings—an amount she could not afford. The mother also reported that they slept under an old mosquito net with holes, allowing mosquitoes to enter and bite both her and the child.

Fortunately, during the door-to-door outreach, the IHDI frontline clinical team and a nurse from Orivu Health Centre III tested Amaniyo using mRDT, diagnosed acute malaria, and provided a full three-day course of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT) at no cost. The nurse carefully instructed the mother in the local dialect: 'Ife Arodi if alu sadisi, azini alu do undresi. Drusi azini Drozi ife vin alu obitisi, alu ondrasi.' ('Give 1 tablet now and one in the evening; tomorrow and day after tomorrow give 1 tablet in the morning and one in the evening').

Regina, a 35-year-old pregnant mother (Gravida 4 Para 3), was visiting relatives in Dadamu when the IHDI community health outreach arrived. Scheduled to return for Antenatal Care (ANC) at Oli Health Center IV in Arua City, she chose to undergo screening on site. Having suffered severe malaria in a previous pregnancy that required inpatient hospitalization, she was keenly aware of the risks to both mother and unborn child. The outreach team tested Regina and provided preventative antimalaria prophylaxis, sparing her the 10,000 UGX transport fare to town and ensuring continuous clinical retention.

In Tanganyika Village of Dadamu Sub-County, an outreach session tested 25 residents for malaria—and not a single person tested positive (0% positivity rate). Community members attributed this remarkable turnaround to applying the President's Mass Action Against Malaria (MAAM) taught to them by IHDI and Arua City health staff. Households sleep under treated mosquito nets every night, clear bushes and stagnant water around their compounds, cultivate mosquito-repelling herbs, and seek prompt testing whenever mild fever arises.

In March 2026, IHDI, the Arua City Health Department, and clinical staff from Orivu Health Center III conducted targeted outreaches across 7 community sites and 60 households. A total of 732 people (250 children and 482 adults) were screened, exceeding the 500-person target by over 100%. Of those screened, 322 patients (44% positivity rate, including 136 children under five years of age) tested positive for malaria and immediately received full free courses of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT).

Equipped with tailoring and vocational entrepreneurship skills through IHDI and humanitarian partners, refugee youth in Bidi Bidi Zone 2 are creating sustainable livelihoods and community services.