Robert Friedland, Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines and Dr Edem Adzogenu, an Ivanhoe Vice President and Chief Health Officer, have announced the launch of a new, advanced healthcare initiative in the ongoing campaign against malaria in the DRC. “Prompt capture of dependable data from screening tests conducted on patients is an essential step to help ensure that accurate and consistent diagnoses are made, which in turn will help to build a secure foundation for the future development and delivery of large-scale, effective prevention and treatment activities that can benefit people of all ages,” said Friedland.

The first phase of the program will cover two established provincial health zones that provide services to a total of approximately 300,000 residents living in 40 urban centres and 330 villages. The Kipushi Health Zone, in southern Haut-Katanga province, includes Ivanhoe’s Kipushi mine project. The Kanzenze Health Zone, in Lualaba province, includes Ivanhoe’s Kamoa copper discovery and mine development project.

The Fionet^(tm) system, developed by Canada-based Fio Corp, will be introduced into the DRC through the three-year program being sponsored by Ivanhoe Mines. Fionet combines mobile, intelligent devices and cloud data services to help health workers improve the accuracy of diagnostic testing and quality of care that they provide to patients. The Fionet system also improves the quality and usefulness of the accumulated data, which can be accessed to assist with the monitoring of patient care, research and the planning of future prevention and treatment programs. With support from US-based implementing partner Chemonics International, DRC health workers will use Fionet to strengthen activities under the country’s National Malaria Control Program (PNLP).

Fio’s intelligent devices, known as Deki^(tm) Readers, automate critical analyses of diagnostic tests for malaria, provide step-by-step guidance through workflows designed according to national guidelines and make it easier for health workers to track patient health outcomes over multiple visits. Fionet will make the data immediately available to program managers to help them monitor progress and target areas requiring improvement.

The picture shows Fio’s Deki Reader in use, helping to deliver a rapid, accurate diagnosis and transmitting results to a cloud database.

Friedland said that new technologies and skills have provided proven tools to address some of the challenges traditionally associated with malaria. “Ivanhoe is privileged to be in a position, with our partners, to provide new resources to support established healthcare objectives and to help ensure that the latest tools are placed in the hands of trained, dedicated, front-line workers, right here in the DRC, where they will make a difference in contributing to better informed health management decisions and life-enhancing outcomes.”

Adzogenu said that while malaria is an entirely treatable disease, it continues to inflict a devastating toll on residents of communities throughout the DRC. “This program will introduce knowledge and technology that deserve to be more widely utilized to significantly improve the health and welfare of people living in the DRC’s malaria-inflicted regions. Integrating the Fionet system into local healthcare services will give residents, including our workers and their families, access to a higher standard of malaria care. At the same time, data captured through Fionet will strengthen disease surveillance and management of malaria-control activities at the provincial and national levels.”

Using a train-the-trainer model, the program will empower trainers from the Ministry of Health to build capacity among workers at established health centres. The first phase is introducing the system to 54 centres that cover two health districts and the planned second phase will extend the system to an additional 300 health centres in a number of districts still to be selected. “People too often seek help when the disease already is severe,” said Dr Ghislain Makan, Provincial Coordinator with PNLP, which is the Health Ministry’s malaria-control coordination body.

“This partnership will empower health workers to offer better care at the primary level and make data collection an integrated and automated part of their routines.”

Dr Michael Greenberg, Fio’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, noted that some 97% of the DRC’s 70 million residents live in areas where malaria is endemic. Malaria parasites transmitted by female Anopheles mosquitoes still cause the deaths of about 180,000 people in the DRC every year; more than 90% of the victims are pregnant women or children under the age of five.

“Today’s announcement signals the activation of a compassionate initiative that is an example of how a government, a mining company, a health technology company and an aid implementer can innovatively combine knowledge and resources to improve the effectiveness of the fight against a terrible cause of death and disability in the DRC,” Greenberg said.

Jamey Butcher, Executive Vice President of Chemonics International, added, “At Chemonics, we believe the private sector can be a powerful force for creating meaningful change in the world. With Ivanhoe and Fio Corp, we are proud to put this belief into action — adapting innovative technologies to the local context in ways that can demonstrate a profoundly positive impact on healthcare delivery and health outcomes for communities in the DRC.”

Two of the three principal African projects being advanced and developed by Ivanhoe Mines are in the DRC. Ivanhoe’s plans include development of a mine on its Kamoa copper discovery in a previously unknown extension of the Central African Copperbelt in the DRC. In March this year, members of the Ivanhoe Mines exploration team received the prestigious Thayer Lindsley Award from the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada for the Kamoa copper discovery, recognized as 2014’s top international mineral discovery. Kamoa is the world’s largest, undeveloped, high-grade copper deposit. Ivanhoe presently has a 95% interest in the project and 5% is held by the DRC government.

At the Kipushi project, current upgrading work includes drilling to confirm and expand resources at the historic, high-grade zinc, copper and germanium mine, also on the Copperbelt in the DRC. Ivanhoe acquired a majority interest in the Kipushi mine in 2011, which had been operated by previous owners between 1924 and 1993. Ivanhoe has a 68% interest in Kipushi and 32% is held by state-owned miner Gécamines.