Tenke Fungurume Mining In 2008, TFM conducted a baseline health assessment and identified health issues and serious diseases that impact the local community, including malaria, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), TB, measles and polio. Rapid population influx into the urban center of Fungurume has created additional strains on the provision of limited public health services to cope with rising demands. TFM is currently providing medical care free of charge to its workforce and dependents through its medical-care provider International SOS. Under the framework of a memorandum of understanding between TFM and the provincial health authorities, TFM has supported health initiatives in the Fungurume Health Zone since 2008. The support is consistent with national health development strategies and international best practices. The initiative is implemented with the involvement of local and national authorities, and with the consent of the communities who act as partners.

TFM has implemented an integrated malaria control program in its project area to protect the workforce, as well as the community residing within the concession. The integrated program consists of different components targeting both vectors and parasites. An indoor residual spraying program, targeting all households in the concession, is conducted twice a year and more than 43,000 households were covered in the program during 2011. The on-site entomology laboratory established that the local malaria vector mosquito had developed partial resistance to the insecticide, and in 2011 an alternative insecticide class was introduced in line with World Health Organization guidelines.

All confirmed malaria cases from the workforce and their dependents are treated with ACT drugs at clinics on site. In 2011, a total of 633 employee malaria cases were diagnosed and treated, representing a 16 percent decrease from 2010 and an overall reduction rate of 66 percent since the start of the program. Since TFM implemented the integrated malaria control program, the malaria burden has decreased throughout the Fungurume Health Zone. TFM carries out malaria prevalence surveys among local school children in the concession twice a year. The October 2011 school survey found a prevalence rate of 41 percent, which represents a decrease of nearly 47 percent, compared with the baseline survey.

TFM also provides robust HIV/AIDS prevention, counseling and treatment programs for its employees and families. In 2011, as part of the TFM workplace HIV/AIDS awareness program, 960 employees and dependents received training on HIV transmission and prevention measures, and 810 received education and information on other STIs. As a result of all these educational activities there has been a substantial increase (150 percent from 2010) in voluntary HIV testing among TFM employees. Another important aspect of the HIV program is the prevention of mother to child transmission, and in 2011, 364 pregnant women (TFM employees and dependents) received counseling during their routine prenatal care visits and 77 percent of them accepted to be tested.

In 2011, a measles outbreak resulted in 6,000 reported cases and 73 deaths in the Fungurume Health Zone. TFM, in collaboration with the DRC government, established a specific measles treatment center and supported a successful vaccination campaign reaching over 85,000 children residing in the concession. TFM helped by transporting vaccines and supplies, donating medicine, printing and distributing educational materials, and providing logistical support.

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