THE REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA’S COMBINED REPORT ON THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN & PEOPLES’ RIGHTS & INITIAL REPORT ON THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA the pregnancy for their most recent birth in the five years preceding the survey. Antenatal coverage varies little by mother’s characteristics, and even amongst women with no education 84 percent received antenatal care. Amongst rural women the proportion is 85 percent. Tetanus toxoid injections are given to women during pregnancy to protect infants from neonatal tetanus, a cause of infant death that is due primarily to unsanitary conditions at childbirth. Full protection is considered to be provided to an infant once the mother receives the required number of injection. Antenatal care coverage country-wide is 96% and Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) awareness is 96%. RCH services including family planning are provided free of charge. Micro-nutrient deficiencies which are a major cause of morbidity and mortality are being addressed through a nutrition supplementation programme. These and other interventions such as increased number of births attended by trained antenatal personnel and maternal education have contributed to the decline in infant mortality and improved maternal health. Malaria According to The Gambia Demographic and Health Survey, 2013, prevalence results based on the use of a Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) and on the reading of thick-smear slides carried out at the national public health laboratories, the results portray in general that malaria prevalence is very low in The Gambia. Only 1 percent of the children tested by microscopy were found to be positive for malaria. The prevalence according to the rapid diagnostic test is higher (2 percent), because the parasite’s antigens may still be present in the child even after the parasites have disappeared. One reason for the observed low prevalence is that the 2013 GDHS survey was conducted between February and April, during the dry season. A Malaria indicator survey conducted in 2014 in the later part of the rainy season between October to November revealed a national malaria prevalence rate of 0.2 percent amongst the general population. The survey also showed a malaria prevalence rate of 0.1 amongst children less than five years. Generally malaria transmission rates have continued to decline in The Gambia during the last decade. Malaria in The Gambia is known to be highly seasonal, with transmission occurring as anopheles populations expand during and immediately after a single annual rainy season that usually lasts from June 67