Foreword

Note to the instructors :

The purpose of the partnership between Synergies Africaines and Les Entreprises du medicament is to offer an education and training programme to teach young children and teenagers to use medication properly. The programme aims, among other things, to provide children with information on how to recognize a disease, how to take the prescribed medication properly and safely and how to exclusively use medication coming from the official medical distribution chain.

To become an instructor we recommend the following profiles : teachers, community health worker, rural facilitator, association leaders (women, youth health clubs ...), social workers. For instructors not working in the education sector an academic level equivalent to the first degree of higher education is required.

The instructor will need to become familiar with all the tools of the training programme in order to be able to answer any question : the teaching module, the student’s booklet and the comic strip. The instructor will have to adapt the training to the various target populations (children , mothers ...) and the training programme will either be completely or partially provided. When given in its full form we recommend that the various themes be studied in the order they appear in the programme.

There are 3 tools in the programme :

The instructor's booklet :

A 28 page large format brochure including information and key messages to disseminate within the community but also a lot of more specific information as well as the answers to the activities provided in the children’s booklet. Objective : allow the instructor to answer as many questions as possible regarding medication and its use.

My Passport to Health

A 12 page coloured and illustrated booklet aiming to remind children in a simple way the key messages given by the instructor. The various activities provided in the booklet stimulate the child’s memory and observation skills.

The comic strip

An illustrated poster explaining the different steps in a case of malaria : the discovery of the symptoms, the visit to the health centre, and the recovery. This comic strip is bound to be spontaneously shared among the members of the community.

The key-message :

3 large chapters covering 7 main issues .

How to recognise and respond to a disease

This lesson teaches children how to recognise the most frequent symptoms and how to respond to the disease within a very short time.
Activity : Children describe in their own words what they feel and where it hurts. Match each word with the right symptom.

At the health centre

The role of the medical staff is crucial to indentify and cure the disease. The different steps of a visit to the health centre from the medical examination to the prescription of medication.
Activity : Have a look at these pictures representing the different steps of a visit to the health centre. Match each dialogue between the medical staff and the child with the right picture.

The various sorts of medication

Getting to know the various sorts of medicaiton better as well as how to use them and becoming more aware of the specificty of each one.
Activity : Have a look at these 6 pictures representing several medications. Can you recognise them ? Draw a line to match each picture to the right word.

Prevent, relieve, cure

This lesson is about vaccination and undersanding better the role of medication.
Activity : The children will have to write down all the medications they have been given and their roles if they know them.

How to use medication properly

Respect the length of the treatment, the dangers of selfmedication, the expiration date : these are the basic rules of a proper use of medication. These rules are mandatory for a safe and effective usage of medication.
Activity : Have a look at these pictures. Some of them show dangerous behaviour with medication. Can you tick them ?

Learn how to know the different diseases and to protect oneself

Malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhea : 3 detailed information sheets to recognise the symptoms, the disease evolution, how the disease is spread, the means of protection.
Activity : Match each word in the list to a letter of the disease it corresponds to

The medication circuit

A presentation of the official medication circuit from manufacturing to distribution allowing to insist on the dangers of buying medication from street vendors.
Activity : Have a careful look at the places and the people in these pictures. Some are part of the official distribution circuit and some are not. Can you recognize them ?