Netting It

This week’s Fist Bump goes out to VL Niger for their support in updating the country’s new Maternal and Child Health Card, which has now been validated by the Ministry of Health. VL Niger successfully supported the NMCP in including key messages on continuous ITN distribution on the new card.

The ITN use/access ratio in Niger, which measures population-level use in relation to population-level access to an ITN, remains low, ranging from 0.23 in Tahoua to 0.66 in Niamey (2012 DHS). With the exception of Niamey, this ratio is well below the 0.60 threshold for a “poor” rating.

The NMCP and partners currently conduct national ITN mass distribution campaigns every three years, with the next one planned in 2021. In between campaigns, the NMCP supports routine distribution through ANC and vaccination visits. To effectively leverage these routine ITN distribution channels, VectorLink has been collaborating with the Maternal and Child Health Department (Direction de la santé de la mère et de l’enfant, DSME) and the Vaccination Department (Direction d’Immunization) at the Ministry of Health (MOH) to effectively implement the Operational Guidelines on Routine LLIN Distribution in ANC and EPI activities.

In Niger’s Dosso and Tahoua regions, VectorLink supported the training of more than 487 health center heads and 17 health district management teams on the latest guidelines. With VL’s support, the NMCP has conducted supportive supervision in 58 health centers (Centres de santé Intégrés) to ensure that ITN distribution according to NMCP guidelines is followed by the health providers. Based on the most recent supervision visits in Dosso and Tahoua, 92% of health centers had ITNs in their warehouse, 67% of pregnant women received ITNs during their first ANC contact, and 51% of children under one year of age received ITNs during immunization, showing that more efforts are needed to ensure continued distribution and use of ITNs in the target populations.

PMI VectorLink supported the NMCP with the incorporation of the Operational Guidelines on Routine LLIN Distribution in DSME and DI guidelines, supervision tools, and patient booklets, including maternal and child health cards. The new maternal and child health card has now been validated by the MOH. A message on ITN utilization and a table for capturing data on routine distribution have been included. VectorLink will support the printing of approximately 18,545 updated health cards that will be distributed to pregnant women during their ANC visits in the Dosso and Tahoua regions.

Congratulations, VL Niger and all those supporting the efforts on the PMI VectorLink Project!