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Malaria

MCSP’s malaria strategy is woman-centered, recognizing that women are the primary care takers of children under five and are themselves at higher risk for the disease during pregnancy. Working closely with national malaria control programs and maternal, newborn and child health programs, we strengthen country health systems across the continuum of care. The Program builds capacity for lasting results in malaria in pregnancy (MiP), facility-based case management, integrated community case management, and community involvement, addressing comprehensive malaria prevention and treatment needs.

Through partnerships at the global and country levels, MCSP advanced evidence-based policies and successful approaches for achieving malaria prevention and treatment goals, leading to universal coverage and, eventually, elimination of the disease. Specifically, MCSP:

  • Contributed to the Roll Back Malaria partnership, which aims to reduce the global burden of malaria morbidity and mortality by reaching universal coverage and strengthening health systems;
  • Supported the President’s Malaria Initiative goal of reducing malaria deaths by half in target countries by reaching at least 85% of the most vulnerable groups (children under five and pregnant women) with proven and effective prevention and treatment measures;
  • Assisted ministries of health in countries affected by malaria, contributing to increased use of malaria prevention and treatment measures including: intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women; distribution and use of long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets; and introduction and scale up of rapid diagnostic tests and artemisinin-based combination therapies. Many of these interventions were carried out at the community level.
  • Promoted use of data for decision-making in malaria programming through standardization of malaria indicators and strengthening of routine data collection systems.

Fortunately, malaria is an entirely preventable and treatable disease, and MCSP increased control measures to dramatically reduce the malaria burden in many places, including in pre-elimination contexts.

To learn how MCSP worked to end malaria for good, visit our malaria microsite.

Key Results

  • On a global level, MCSP served as co-chair to the Roll Back Malaria’s MiP Working Group, supporting the linkage between global policy and country practice to accelerate malaria in pregnancy (MiP) programming.
  • In Kenya, MCSP built the capacity of 2,344 community health volunteers to encourage antenatal care (ANC) and to start intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) early in the second trimester. This community-based approach reached 44,133 women and resulted in a 12% increase (from 24% to 36%) in the proportion of women attending a first ANC visit at ≤20 weeks of gestation. At the national level, MCSP’s advocacy efforts to procure SP resulted in an agreement by the Kenya government, the President’s Malaria Initiative, and UNICEF to purchase stock to last through 2019.
  • In Mozambique, MCSP implemented a quality improvement approach that included the development of comprehensive malaria performance standards and training of 113 health care workers to ensure that services are of high quality. By the end of the second year of implementation, nine of 20 facilities had improved their standards scores by 50% or more compared to baseline, and nearly 100% of children under 5 with fever had received a diagnostic test in MCSP-supported areas.
  • MCSP developed a package of tools to help policy makers, program implementers, and clinicians design and deliver high-quality MiP interventions in the context of the 2016 World Health Organization ANC recommendations. The tools include recommendations on implementing MiP programs and a frequently asked questions brief.
  • MCSP developed 12 MiP country profiles, which summarize key statistics and qualitative information on MiP intervention coverage, policies and community engagement. These resources serve as reference material for managers and policymakers for improving MiP intervention coverage, identifying and overcoming key challenges, and recognizing best practices.

Our Focus

Sources:
Maternal and Child Survival Program