Malaria is the number one cause of death in the Central African Republic. The ICRC has been carrying out a pilot project to tackle this scourge since September 2011 in Obo, in the south-east of the country. The idea is simple: diagnose the disease at the first sign of symptoms, administer anti-malarial drugs and provide medical care throughout the treatment, without it costing the patient anything. In three months, this programme has proved that early treatment of malaria drastically reduces the mortality rate. Scroll through this photo gallery to find out more about the region, which is also plagued by endemic poverty and violence linked to the presence of the Lord's Resistance Army.