Category: Field Notes

This week’s Fist Bump goes out to Côte d’Ivoire for implementing its first stratified mass ITN distribution campaign. Using insecticide susceptibility data collected by the PMI VectorLink Project, piperonyl-butoxide (PBO) nets were chosen as the most effective ITNs to reduce malaria in 11 districts.

At PMI’s request, VL CDI quickly undertook the logistics, finance, M&E, IEC/BCC, and other advocacy and microplanning meetings, and recruited support staff to ensure seamless coordination with the national campaign. The team was also involved with the household registration activities, supporting the NMCP in the planning, supervision, data collection, and training.

Despite several logistical challenges, the project team completed all preparatory activities on time and in compliance with the recommended preventative measures to protect participants from COVID-19 transmission.

Ultimately, the VectorLink team was able to start the PBO net distribution campaign on the same day as the 102 other health districts in Cote d’Ivoire, aptly scheduled on World Malaria Day (April 25). The VectorLink team participated in the NMCP’s formal launch event in Divo District honored by the presence of the Ministry of Health, the ministry of infrastructure and Equipment, the USAID Country Ambassador, the USAID Country Director, and the PMI local team, in which the local Administrative Authorities handed the inaugural ITN to community members as a symbolic message to promote the use of ITN.

Kudos to the VL Cote D’Ivoire team for your tireless efforts to overcome many obstacles leading up to this complex campaign with multiple partners and stakeholders. Best of luck in completing this intense 7-day campaign, which will distribute 3.14 million ITNs in the targeted districts!

This week’s Fist Bump goes out to VL Uganda for completing their first IRS mobile data collection pilot and to the VL Kenya M&E team for providing South-to-South support to the Uganda M&E team. The Uganda IRS campaign is the largest of the VL portfolio. In Phase 1 of the campaign, eight districts were included in the campaign, targeting 764,331 eligible structures, protecting approximately 3,038,746 people in the eight districts. In Bugiri District, one of the eight districts, Uganda implemented mobile data collection using the custom-built VectorLink Collect (District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2).  

As this was Uganda’s first time collecting data using a mobile platform, support was provided by the VL Kenya M&E team, who have significant experience using the platform. The Kenya team organized and led a webinar with the Uganda team, which covered topics such as installation of mobile programs, entering and editing data, field support, and logistics. In addition, the Kenya team provided ongoing critical support on issues related to the technical specification of devices, training needs, and training materials.

Congratulations, VL Uganda, for completing the mobile data collection for phase 1, and to VL Kenya, for providing excellent camaraderie and support to the Uganda team!

This week’s Fist Bump goes out to VL Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for their successful decentralization of select entomological surveillance activities amidst COViD-19. Given the geographical size of the DRC, the NMCP expressed the wish to decentralize entomological surveillance activities (instead of relying on Kinshasa-based entomologists). VL DRC shared this vision and is committed to reinforcing provincial capacity through training of entomological technicians on basic entomological techniques led by the National Institute of Biomedical Research. In total, 24 technicians in 8 provinces (Sankuru, Sud Kivu, Haut Katanga, Tshopo, Tanganyika, Kasai Central, Kongo Central and Mai-Ndombe) received sufficient training to conduct insecticide susceptibility testing independently in 2020. In addition, longitudinal surveillance is also being conducted independently in three provinces (Sankuru, Mai-Ndombe and Kongo Central).

Decentralization of insecticide susceptibility testing, unfortunately, coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. After adapting to the COVID-19 preventive measures recommended by local and national authorities and following the PMI COVID-19 mitigation protocols, provincial technicians were able to conduct insecticide susceptibility testing (including PBO synergist tests) with success.

Congrats VL DRC for continuing this important work!

This Fist Bump Friday goes out to the VectorLink ITN team for completing their recent School-Based ITN Exemplar.

This exemplar a consolidated, user-friendly, step-by-step compendium to the 2016 Guide for use by National Malaria Control Programs (NMCPs) and their partners. The purpose of the Exemplar is to explain the process, best practices, and tools needed to design and implement school-based ITN distribution. The Exemplar is intended to streamline and enhance the process and resources provided on continuousdistribution.org for designing, planning, and implementing ITN continuous distribution.

The use of the Exemplar is based on the premise that the NMCP has decided to introduce school-based ITN distribution using the systematic and evidence-based process for channel selection described on continuousdistribution.org, including the use of NetCalc.^[1] The Exemplar assumes that the NMCP and its partners have determined that school-based ITN distribution is strategic, desirable, and feasible, both logistically and financially, for achieving or maintaining ITN access. The evidence-based process for channel selection described on continuousdistribution.org identifies the criteria necessary for the selection and successful implementation of school-based ITN distribution, such as high enrollment rates for eligible classes, a supportive Ministry of Education (MoE) and Ministry of Health (MoH) (and/or other relevant ministries), and strong subnational MoE structures, among other criteria.

The primary audience for the Exemplar is NMCPs and their partners that are introducing school-based ITN distribution. The secondary audience is NMCPs and their partners that have introduced and implemented school-based ITN distribution but may want to refine their approach or find efficiencies in their current program.

The Exemplar is available on the VectorLink site here with supporting documentation available here.

^[1] “NetCALC/NetCALC Lite Planning Tool.” VectorWorks, U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative VectorWorks Project, 17 Sept. 2019, www.vector-works.org/resources/netcalc-planning-tool/.  

This week’s Fist Bump goes out to VectorLink’s Data Analytics and Visualization team as well as to VL Mali, VL Nigeria and VL Zambia for supporting NMCPs to optimize the deployment of vector control tools and evaluate their impact by to integrating epidemiological, entomological, and coverage data.

Data use is key to developing strategies to adapt to insecticide resistance and can facilitate effective use of new vector control tools in IRS and ITNs. VectorLink’s timely and relevant data offer decision-makers the information needed in easily accessible and actionable reports or data dashboards. This work, and its impact, is showcased in three case studies that are now available on the PMI VectorLink website.

• In Mali, PMI VectorLink supported vector control decisions regarding which type, how many, and where new Interceptor G2 insecticide-treated nets should be deployed to reduce malaria case incidence and combat insecticide resistance.
• In Nigeria, PMI VectorLink is using data to mitigate the impact of insecticide resistance. This case study explores the opportunity and challenge of using new nets formulated to combat insecticide resistance, and how dashboards are being used to support a PBO ITN evaluation.
• In Zambia, PMI VectorLink compiled and visualized over 600 data points in vector composition and insecticide resistance to inform the selection of the right vector control products for the right locations.

The case studies include interactive visualizations so users can further explore the data. These case studies represent just a small part of VectorLink’s integrated data analytics and visualization work, which currently supports nine PMI VectorLink countries and a portfolio of 15 vector control evaluations.

Congratulations to VL’s Integrated Data Analytics and Visualization team, including Sarah Burnett, Emily Beylerian and Mkhululi Ngwenya, who worked closely with VL Mali, VL Nigeria and VL Zambia on these studies. Kudos to all for showing us the data!

This week’s Fist Bump goes out to VectorLink Benin for their creativity and joie de vivre in increasing awareness and acceptance of IRS through the power of music and songs.

VL Benin was among the first VectorLink countries to start spraying under the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The safe implementation of the 2020 spray campaign in Benin was made possible through an effective and comprehensive risk mitigation plan, including the wider use of media (radio and TV) to reach a large audience in the intervention areas while minimizing the in-person/door-to-door mobilization activities. For its 2021 spray campaign, VL Benin has reinforced its mobilization strategies even further amid the COVID-19 pandemic. To continue reaching a wider audience and to increase awareness and acceptance rates of IRS within the communities where the project sprays, the team developed a song specifically dedicated to the risks associated with malaria and the effectiveness of IRS in preventing the disease. In Benin, songs and music have proven to be an efficient way to reach a large audience and raise awareness for certain causes.

Sing along with VL Benin as you watch the video here: https://youtu.be/ABwZKus2LQQ. Kudos VL Benin for your success in the campaign and for your creativity! The 2021 IRS campaign will run for 16 operational days from 26 April to 17 May 2021 and cover six districts in efforts to protect 859,059 people. Good luck, VL Benin!

This week’s Fist Bump goes out to VectoLink Kenya as they continue with their 2021 IRS campaign, launching in Homa Bay on March 10^th. Fourteen sub-counties will be covered in total – six in Migori County and eight in Homa Bay County. Despite delays in international shipments, VL Kenya is successfully carrying out the campaign to protect people from malaria.

The launch in Homa Bay was kicked off with much fanfare, with PMI, Kenya’s Division of National Malaria Program (DNMP), Bayer, and VectorLink officials visiting the Homa Bay County Executive Committee, including Professor Richard Muga, who later led the launch. Professor Muga handed over a sprayer to an SOP, marking the official start of the campaign in Homa Bay county. The Deputy Governor then flagged off the campaign.

Local media was invited to the event. Though the public was not invited to the launch in Homa Bay as a COVID-19 mitigation strategy, this year’s Homa Bay launch received wide national media coverage. Congrats, VL Kenya, on getting the word out on VL’s malaria control efforts.

VL Kenya is scheduled to end in Homa Bay on April 6^th. The team ended their campaign in Migori county on March 13, with a total of 210,995 eligible structures with 96.9% spray coverage. Good luck with the remainder of the 2021 IRS campaign, VL Kenya. Carry on!

This week’s Fist Bump goes out to VectorLink Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) for their perseverance in successfully launching project activities during a global pandemic.

Approximately 102 million people are at risk of malaria in Latin America. While ITNs and IRS are standard tools for malaria vector control, there is limited scientific evidence on the effectiveness of these vector control measures on malaria vectors in the LAC region. For this reason, PMI VectorLink LAC is measuring the entomological impact of both ITNs and IRS when delivered under ideal circumstances through a two-armed cluster-randomized trial in the Pacific Coast of Colombia, where the neotropical mosquito Anopheles albimanus is the primary vector.

Since October 2020 VectorLink LAC has worked hard to start up project operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in:

• strong collaboration with the local government, including a signed MoU
• 40 clusters identified for the study trial
• 42 field workers recruited and trained in malaria entomology, mosquito collection, and COVID-19 mitigation measures; and
• A fully refurbished lab facility and insectary.

The 40 clusters were randomly assigned to receive either IRS or ITN for the entomological impact evaluation. VL LAC is assisting with the interventions, which will cover approximately 12,000 inhabitants.

VL LAC successfully completed baseline entomological data collection in February 2021, one month before the government began IRS and ITN distribution in the study area. At baseline, 18,256 Anopheles were collected in both indoor and outdoor human landing catches. Entomological data collection will continue for 18-months post-intervention. The results will help guide national and regional malaria vector control decision-making, to ensure that resources are invested in the interventions that are most effective in controlling the local malaria vectors.  

Congratulations, VL LAC for these impressive accomplishments!

This week’s Fist Bump goes to VL Sierra Leone for the success in completing their first IRS Boot Camp and Capacity Building workshop in preparation for the country’s first large-scale IRS campaign in April.

The five-day training, which was held in February, was led by VL Regional Vector Control Manager Ernest Fletcher and VL Sierra Leone COP Evelyne Alyko with technical support from VL SL Operations Manager Alie V-Tarawally, M&E Manager Eddie Vamboi, and EC Officer Aminata Thullah.

The Capacity Building workshop was designed for IRS Managers and Master Trainers from the national and district levels. The workshop provided the knowledge, skills, and tools required to plan for, train, implement, supervise, and monitor a high-quality IRS campaign. Participants at the training included the VL Sierra Leone team, the NMCP, Directorate of Environmental Health, Environment Protection Agency, District Officials, as well as the PMI Mission team. During the training, participants were taught the critical factors leading to the successful implementation of an IRS campaign.

VectorLink Sierra Leone is working with the NMCP to develop districts’ spray schedules for the IRS campaign in April, taking into consideration all environmental and operational requirements in each selected district. The Boot Camp training included information on entomology for vector control, gender inclusiveness & IRS, needs assessments and quantification, IRS application equipment, training techniques, insecticide mixing, spray techniques, household preparation, environmental compliance, community mobilization, spray calendar development, supervision, monitoring and evaluation, and end-of-day clean-up. will be applied during the upcoming training and IRS campaign for successful implementation. The training took place in a well-ventilated open-air venue and followed COVID-19 mitigation measures.

Congratulations, VL Sierra Leone, and good luck with your first IRS campaign!

This week’s Fist Bump goes out to VL Burkina Faso for their success in engaging and building the capacity of project partners. In January 2021, PMI VectorLink upgraded the VectorLink Collect (VLC) database from the 2.31.10 to the 2.35.1 version, which represents the DHIS2 based database for both IRS and entomology data. The Home Office M&E held two different WebEx training sessions (one in French and one in English) to train all the field teams on the upgraded database. The participants for these WebEx sessions were field M&E managers, database managers, and ento database managers.

Following the training, the VL Burkina Faso M&E team held a training session specifically for the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) staff on the new version of the VectorLink Collect database. The team also used this opportunity to further enhance the NMCP team’s existing knowledge and skills on VectorLink Collect. The participants were especially interested in learning how to create a Pivot table, graphs, and how to use VLC dashboard during an IRS campaign. The new VLC version will help NMCP to better track, monitor, and implement vector control interventions.

As this was not the first time that VL Burkina Faso worked with NMCP (PNLP), both teams have agreed to continue working together to consolidate skills and build capacities in all the different aspects of the project.  

Kudos to PMI Vectorlink Burkina Faso for keeping our partners engaged!