Nala Foundation 1126 views

About NALA

Since 2008, NALA has worked to control and eliminate neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and diseases of poverty in Ethiopia. More than 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from NTDs, which include blinding trachoma, intestinal worms, and schistosomiasis.

These diseases disproportionately affect rural and high-poverty populations with limited access to clean water and sanitation. NTDs can cause cognitive impairment and long-term disability that make it difficult for people to go to school or care for a family, further trapping the poor in a cycle of disease and poverty.

NALA complements the Mass Drug Administration campaigns by focusing on four elements to prevent reinfection and inspire healthy changes:

• Behavior Change & Hygiene Promotion- NALA implements intensive health education at all levels (school and community), with a special emphasis on young children of 4-10 years of age, as the main messengers of change.
• Community Mobilization- NALA engages community members and local stakeholders in all areas of the program, from exploring the root causes of diseases, through providing health education messages in community settings, to improving infrastructure. NALA focuses its efforts on the identified local leaders of communities, and supports them as they lead the health initiatives and behavior change processes in the community.
• Capacity Building & Systems Strengthening- NALA coordinates with the government, local authorities and across sectors (health, education, WASH) to provide tools and trainings that will increase inter-sectoral coordination and strengthen existing systems and processes. The NALA team has supported the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health in creating a district level WASH-NTD Coordination toolkit that is implemented in our programs and is adopted nationwide.
• WASH Improvements– Sustainable decrease in NTD prevalence requires an enabling environment with infra-structure that will support the adoption and practice of healthy WASH related behaviors. NALA supports both large and small-scale projects and solutions for community-based water and sanitation improvements. The NALA team continuously explores tests, and scales community-based solutions for disease prevalence that fit the diverse circumstances of communities in Ethiopia.

NALA’s work has led to a significant decrease in disease. For instance, in our project in Mekelle, the prevalence of schistosomiasis dropped 88% between 2009 and 2012. Five years after the project’s end, a survey showed sustained low prevalence.

Since 2016, the organization provides technical assistance to the Ethiopian Government with staff positioned in the federal level and in regional governments, and developing new models and tools for reducing disease prevalence.