Malaria
- Equal Opportunity, Equal Work: Increasing Women's Participation in the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative Africa Indoor Residual Spraying Project
Promotion of gender policies led to increased hiring of women in supervisory roles in a large indoor residual spraying (IRS) program with no meaningful differences in IRS output between men and women spray operators.
- New Ways of Approaching Indoor Residual Spraying for Malaria
Using health extension workers in Ethiopia as supervisors of the spray team reduced operational costs while maintaining quality. But rethinking IRS calls for (1) adapting equipment and procedures to ensure higher-quality spray applications, and (2) empowering decentralized targeting against malaria transmission foci.
- Indoor Residual Spraying Delivery Models to Prevent Malaria: Comparison of Community- and District-Based Approaches in Ethiopia
Integrating indoor residual spraying into the institutionalized community-based health system in 5 districts was more efficient than the district-based model and did not compromise quality or compliance with environmental standards.
- Feasibility and Effectiveness of mHealth for Mobilizing Households for Indoor Residual Spraying to Prevent Malaria: A Case Study in Mali
Sending voice and/or text messages to mobilize households for spraying was more costly per structure and less effective at preparing structures than traditional door-to-door mobilization approaches supplemented with radio and town hall announcements. Challenges included:
Lack of familiarity with mobile phones and with public health mobile messaging
Lack of face-to-face communication with mobilizers, making it easier to ignore mobilization messages and preventing trust-building
Low literacy levels
Gender differentials in access to mobile phones
- School Distribution as Keep-Up Strategy to Maintain Universal Coverage of Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets: Implementation and Results of a Program in Southern Tanzania
A school-based net distribution program, piloted in the Southern Zone of Tanzania to sustain ≥80% universal net coverage previously attained through mass campaigns, successfully issued nets to nearly all eligible students and teachers. Keys to success included:
Effective collaboration between the Ministry of Health, local government, and implementing partners
Social mobilization to sensitize the community about the importance of net use
Development of a mobile application to facilitate data collection and analysis
- Are pregnant women prioritized for bed nets? An assessment using survey data from 10 African countries
Women of reproductive age are generally more likely to sleep under an insecticide-treated net (ITN) than other household members. Universal coverage increases ITN use by all family members, including pregnant women. However, BCC efforts are needed to achieve desired levels of bed net use, which is especially important for pregnant women.
- Moving malaria in pregnancy programs from neglect to priority: experience from Malawi, Senegal, and Zambia
Program areas that were generally working well in malaria in pregnancy programs (MIP) included: (1) integration of MIP interventions into antenatal care; (2) development of up-to-date policies; (3) active involvement of communities; and (4) development of capacity-building materials for training. Challenges remain in the areas of: (1) commodities; (2) quality assurance; (3) monitoring and evaluation; and (4) financing.