The threat of malaria and its deadly consequences has been a constant presence in Krayé Agenor’s life.
He vividly remembers that as a young boy, two of his aunts died from malaria while they were pregnant. At the time, people in Ménékré, his home in Côte d’Ivoire, did not fully understand the disease.
“They said these were bad deaths and we should not stay in the village. I was a little boy – I followed my older brother, and we escaped into the forest,” he says. “Ever since I was a child, I have never forgotten that day.”
But Krayé eventually returned home.
He had a long career as a teacher and is now the village chief in Ménékré, an important role administratively, but one that holds even more responsibility to protect the well-being of the community.
“For the Bété people the village chief is a guide, he is an educator, he is a moderator, he is entrusted with all the secrets of the village,” Krayé says.
For Krayé, this has also meant protecting his community from malaria.
Children under 5 face the greatest threat
Like in most countries in West Africa, malaria is endemic in Côte d’Ivoire. Every person in the country is at risk of contracting the disease, but children face an acute threat.
In 2020, there was a 12% increase in the number of global malaria deaths compared to the previous year, mostly due to COVID-19 disruptions. Globally 627,000 people died from malaria. The vast majority, 96% of these deaths, were in sub-Saharan Africa, and 80% were children under 5.
New global estimates show that a child dies every minute from this mosquito-borne disease.
As a grandfather, father and teacher, Krayé is well aware of malaria’s deadly consequences on children.
“When you see an innocent child losing their life just like that, it's not right,” he says. “The pain is intense. You imagine what this child would have become, and then the world takes him away from you.”
As a teacher, Krayé would tell his students about the threat posed by malaria and how they could protect themselves and their families. When he retired in 2016 to work on his cocoa farm, he caught the disease himself. If it wasn’t for his wife, who took quick action and brought him to a health center out of town, he could have died.
As the village chief, he has transformed the community’s response to the deadly disease.
Community health workers bring malaria prevention, testing and care close to home
In 2018, a nurse approached Krayé about engaging community health workers to fight malaria in Ménékré. Krayé was immediately supportive, and he quickly identified someone to take on the role. When he saw the impact of their work, he brought on four more.
“They visit families and go door-to-door to give advice, to educate parents and even give primary care to children. Malaria is now managed through education and the use of treated mosquito nets as well as through the medicines that are given free of charge,” he says.
Since 2007, the Global Fund has invested nearly US$500 million to fight malaria in Côte d’Ivoire, working in close partnership with the National Malaria Control Program, local communities, the United States President’s Malaria Initiative, Save the Children, UNICEF and others. This work includes supporting the training and deployment of community health workers across the country who conduct home visits, targeting households with children under the age of 5 and pregnant women.
In 2018, there were 5,900 community health workers fighting malaria and other childhood diseases in Côte d’Ivoire; as of 2021 there were 10,000.
The Global Fund also supports the provision of rapid diagnostic tests, preventive treatment for pregnant women and medications to treat people after they are diagnosed. Global Fund investments are also used to support national mosquito net distribution campaigns while ensuring nets are available at health centers for pregnant women and their newborn children. The Global Fund is now financing nets with new technology to tackle insecticide resistance, a growing threat across the region.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, these critical interventions continued.
In 2021, a national campaign distributed more than 18.5 million mosquito nets, reaching 96% of households across the country. To adapt to the challenges posed by the pandemic, community health workers with adequate personal protective equipment distributed nets door-to-door, rather than at central distribution points that gathered large numbers of people.
Over the last five years, the number of deaths from malaria in Côte d’Ivoire has been cut in half. Krayé says that since the community health workers were deployed in his village, there has been a marked drop in the number of cases of malaria.
“I know we are moving toward malaria eradication in this village, he says. “There is still progress to be made, but lives have been saved.”
© 2026 The Global Fund
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