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Welcome to the January 2022 edition of the Newsletter.

We enter into a new year with renewed determination to achieve the primary focus of our strategy for 2021-2025 – universal health coverage by 2030, with a marked and sustained reduction in malaria and other diseases.

We’re continuing to deliver our lifesaving interventions, including seasonal malaria chemoprevention, in line with COVID-19 safe implementation guidelines and working with the global community to regain momentum lost during the pandemic to tackle the most pressing issues in global public health including malaria, severe acute malnutrition and antimicrobial resistance.

Building on our intention to ensure our programmes contribute to health system strengthening, we are excited to get underway with a new project in Uganda (SUMRES) – linking our expertise in malaria burden reduction and quality data use to build multisectoral collaboration and further develop capacity across all levels of the health system. We remain committed to harnessing innovative digital solutions in programme delivery such as upSCALE in Mozambique and continue to scale health programming where it is needed most, through national programmes and country coordinating mechanisms.

We also take a closer look at the lessons we learnt through participating in the malaria-related social behaviour change intervention in Uganda, Malaria Action Program for Districts (MAPD), in which we provided technical direction and oversight, programmatic and representation leadership, and collaborated closely with partners – find out more below.

Improving neglected tropical disease services and integration into primary healthcare in Ethiopia

Neglected tropical diseases (NTD) affect more than 1.5 billion people, disproportionately impacting the most vulnerable and marginalised. In Ethiopia, Malaria Consortium has been working with the Ministry of Health to improve the integration of NTD services into primary healthcare. Results from a research study we conducted show improvements in the capacity of primary healthcare to detect, manage and record NTDs as well as an increased awareness and improved integration of NTDs more generally into primary healthcare settings. Learn more

New project to boost malaria burden reduction gains in Uganda

For almost 20 years, Malaria Consortium has supported malaria reduction programmes in Uganda. Now, to build on gains made in Uganda’s mission to eradicate the disease, we are implementing a new project – Supporting Uganda’s Malaria Reduction and Elimination Strategy (SUMRES). Over two years, this integrated community case management (iCCM) programme aims to reduce morbidity and mortality due to malaria and other common illnesses by targeting close to three million people across 11 districts. Learn more

Non-medical health workers use simplified tools to treat malnutrition in children under five in rural Nigeria

Since 2015, Malaria Consortium has trained community health workers treating children under five with mild malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia and severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Built into pre-existing integrated community case management (iCCM), this inventive approach has led to a reduction in SAM – a condition which is not currently adequately addressed by Nigeria’s iCCM guidelines. Our study demonstrates the results. Learn more

SMC in 2022: Maintaining scale and looking to the future

Last year, our seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) programme reached 20 million children across Burkina Faso, Chad, Nigeria, Mozambique, Togo and Uganda, providing them with antimalarials to prevent malaria infections during the rainy season. Find out how we plan to reach a similar number of children with SMC again this year and research how we can expand the programme to support new countries in rolling-out the programme. Learn more

Mobile malaria workers on the muddy pathway to malaria elimination in Cambodia

For populations living in remote, forested areas of northern Cambodia, the monsoon season is incredibly tough. Muddy conditions make vehicle access challenging and essential malaria services often do not reach these communities. Despite this, Malaria Consortium’s dedicated teams of mobile malaria workers take to the roads by motorbikes, ensuring that those most exposed to the risk of contracting malaria have access to the quality services they need. Learn more

Supporting country coordinating mechanisms to deliver Global Fund’s strategy

We’ve taken a closer look at Global Fund’s new five-year strategy for combating AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and reversing the damaging impact of COVID-19 on progress against these diseases. This strategy results from a long period of engagement between Global Fund, civil society and the global health community. Find out how we work through Ethiopia’s Country Coordinating Mechanism to scale malaria interventions nationally. Learn more

NEW LEARNING BRIEF:

Edutainment as a vehicle for malaria-related behavior change: Lessons learnt from Uganda

Many malaria awareness interventions in Uganda are designed to target women and children under five, often overlooking men and male youth. With men typically controlling their household’s financial resources and making decisions about expenditures, including on health, successfully reaching and engaging men with health campaigns is extremely important. This project identified large-scale football events of the 2018 FIFA World Cup to engage men with edutainment activities to improve their knowledge of malaria prevention and treatment and to encourage behaviour change within households. Learn more

NEW PROJECT BRIEF:

Supporting Uganda’s Malaria Reduction and Elimination Strategy (SUMRES)

Malaria Consortium is establishing a functional integrated community case management (iCCM) programme in the northern Uganda Lango and Acholi regions through the Supporting Uganda’s Malaria Reduction and Elimination Strategy (SUMRES) project. With this project, we aim to reduce morbidity and mortality due to malaria and other common illnesses by targeting a population of approximately 2.8 million people. The three key interventions that we seek to deliver are: iCCM; capacity development at private health facilities; and surveillance and health systems strengthening. Learn more

UPDATED PROJECT BRIEF:

upSCALE: Strengthening mobile health in Mozambique

We have designed the upSCALE intervention in Mozambique to improve quality of service delivery through more accurate diagnosis and consequently, timely treatment. Digital tools guide community health workers through patient registration and diagnosis, and schedule supervisory visits to monitor performance and commodity stock levels. Learn more

POSITION STATEMENT:

Antimicrobial resistance: A growing threat to global health

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing health threat, contributing to at least 700,000 deaths globally each year. By 2050, this figure could reach 10 million, with most lives lost in low- and middle-income countries. Read our interactive position statement on how the global community can tackle AMR and reduce its impact on public health. Learn more

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