The Big Push

Happy New Year, PMI VectorLink Project! Before we leave 2020 completely, let’s all give a huge congratulations to VL Tanzania for their successful IRS campaign on Mainland, which they completed on Dec 21, 2020. It was a herculean effort – 6 districts and 3 refugee camps stretching over 700km in Northwest Tanzania in two phases. Among these districts, one (Ukerewe) is composed entirely of islands, adding to the complexity of the campaign. VL Tanzania scaled-up mobile data collection from the 2020 pilot in the spring, prioritizing the use of mobile data on remote islands.

Preliminary data show that the team sprayed 552,643 structures during the two phases, exceeding the target of 520,008 structures and protecting 2,054,339 people, including Tanzanians as well as refugees from Burundi and Congo.

The team overcame multiple challenges this year, including the need to shift timing due to the Tanzanian national election, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to ensure that populations were protected during peak transmission season, while avoiding IRS during the national election, the campaign had to spray later than usual and encountered rain and muddy roads. But they pushed through! (SEE PHOTO)

The team was able to fully spray the districts where IRS was suspended in the spring because of the pandemic, ensuring that these populations were covered. At the completion of the mainland campaign, there were no known cases of COVID-19.

Kudos to the entire VL Tanzania team!