Category: Field Notes

This week’s Fist Bump goes to Ifeanyi Okeke, VectorLink Nigeria’s Database Manager, and the VectorLink Nigeria team for facilitating the successful roll-out of VectorLink Collect for entomological monitoring across all six sentinel sites where the team supports longitudinal vector surveillance.

The team started transitioning from a Microsoft Access-based system to VectorLink Collect in mid-October. The team developed a phased roll-out and training approach, participating in, and then conducting a series of trainings virtually and in-person in November and December to introduce the system to different members of the team—principal Investigators overseeing the surveillance activities at each site to the data entry clerks and entomology technicians entering the data. In total, 18 people were trained across the six sentinel sites where VectorLink Nigeria conducts entomological surveillance and insecticide resistance monitoring activities. 

As of last week, longitudinal monitoring data across all six sites are entered, managed, and analyzed within the VectorLink Collect system. This transition to the VectorLink Collect database, in addition to enhancing the ease of data entry and management, will ensure the availability of near-real time data to drive vector control decision making within the country. The Microsoft Access database did not provide for real-time access to data captured and stored, and data analysis and management had to be carried out manually, which was cumbersome and provided lots of room for human error.

As a result, the team is looking forward to sharing the dashboards with key stakeholders, such as the NMEP, PMI, academic institutions, and research organizations in the coming weeks and preparing for the deployment of mobile data collection in four of the sentinel sites in February or March. 

Special thanks to HO M&E Backstop Lilly Siems for providing top-notch support and accompanying the team as they get up to speed on the new database. 

Well done and keep it up, VL Nigeria! 

Scaling up local capacity for entomological surveillance is important for supporting national vector control activities. In Senegal, Insectaries were lacking, so this week’s Fist Bump goes to VectorLink Senegal for supporting the construction of an insectarium, by converting a 40-foot container, at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar (UCAD).

In the past, UCAD carried out lab analyses and susceptibly tests, and was supplied with reared mosquitoes for bioassays from partner institutes (Insitut de Recherche pour le Développement—IRD and Institut Pasteur de Dakar—IPD). PMI/USAID through VectorLink aided in the construction of an insectarium, the renovation of the medical entomology laboratory at UCAD, and procured all equipment for both the insectarium and the lab. The inauguration and hand over of the Insectarium, lab, and offices took place on December 9, 2021. USAID Deputy Mission Director Kitty Andang, NMCP Coordinator, Dr. Doudou Sene, University leadership, and VectorLink Senegal leadership attended the inauguration ceremony.

The lab will be used for molecular (polymerase chain reaction—PCR and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay—ELISA) and biochemical analyses on mosquitoes while the insectarium is used to rear susceptibility strains of mosquitoes (An. colluzii) for cone bioassays to test the residual efficacy of IRS, and wild mosquitoes for insecticide susceptibility tests.

The insectarium and laboratory will allow the university to have autonomy, to train more students in entomology, and to finish analyses on time. Results from lab analyses inform vector bionomics (vector density), behaviors (resting and biting), and situations of insecticide resistance; all factors that will help determine the NMCP’s national vector control strategies and decisions.

Excellent work VL Senegal!

This week’s Fist Bump goes out to Tahina Masihelison, VectorLink Madagascar’s Environmental Compliance Officer for his use of solar power, a renewable energy source, to keep insecticide storerooms within the ideal temperature range.

The South-West region of Madagascar is feeling the impacts of climate change: temperatures are increasing, droughts are intensifying, and desertification is expanding. The recommended maximum storeroom temperature for current IRS insecticides is 35°C, as higher temperatures could lead to insecticide degradation or damage the integrity of insecticide containers. However, the South-West region, especially the district of Betioky, can have temperatures reaching 42°C even in the shade. Many of the storerooms are not electrified, therefore setting up traditional cooling and ventilation systems is a challenge.

To overcome this challenge in 2021, Tahina and the VL Madagascar team tested the use of a solar-powered cooling and ventilation system in the Tongobory operations site. Use of solar power is practical in this region, as it receives a lot of direct sunlight. The ventilation system comprises a solar panel with the ability to produce 500 Watts of electricity, a battery, an AC/DC inverter, a humidifier, and a fan. The battery stores the energy collected by the solar panel, and powers the fan and humidifier when the sun is not shining. The ventilation system helps keep the storeroom cool and distributes the air evenly, eliminating hot spots.

After the solar powered system was installed, the storeroom temperature decreased by 12°C on average. Therefore, if the outside temperature was 40 – 44°C, the temperature inside the storeroom would be cooled to between 28 and 32°C.

Excellent work, Tahina! This is a great accomplishment and shows how climate adaptations can keep malaria services resilient!

Happy New Year, Everyone! This week’s Fist Bump goes out to VL Zimbabwe for utilizing community-based entomology to collect data to build rapport with the local community in Kawere.

Community buy-in for entomological monitoring can be a challenge as many people prioritize income-generating activities over entomological activities, thus the commitment for conventional monitoring, where trained technicians come to the community, was not forthcoming.

To collect the necessary data, the VectorLink entomology team trained community members in mosquito collection at the larval (aquatic) stage as well as adult mosquito collection. Women were recruited and hired as they are often more able to commit to long-term routine entomological monitoring compared to men who tend to have other competing errands that affect their ability to sustain surveillance. The community members are now able to collect mosquito larvae without supervision.

Entomological monitoring provides a source of income for the those who participate in Kawere, an area where there are extremely limited income opportunities. Most members of the community survive on market gardening and other farming activities, which are seasonal in nature. The women involved have used their income to improve their homes, and they can also more easily provide for their families, including paying school fees for their children.   

As trusted community members, the trained local entomologists have helped to increase acceptance of the project’s routine entomological monitoring, removing some of the misconceptions regarding project objectives.

Great job engaging the local community, VL Zimbabwe!

As 2021 comes to a close, it’s fitting to highlight the accomplishments of the past year for this week’s Fist Bump. Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the PMI VectorLink Project continued to deliver high quality malaria vector control interventions. Between October 2020 and September 2021, the PMI VectorLink Project achieved the following:

• Almost 6 million structures sprayed
• Close to 21.9 million people protected by IRS, including
  • ~3.5 million children under 5 protected by IRS
  • 692 thousand pregnant women protected by IRS
• Almost 6.7 million ITNs distributed
• Over 13.3 million people protected by ITNs

These accomplishments would not have been possible without the work of everyone on the project. Congratulations, PMI VectorLink. We look forward to continuing positive results in the next year.

This week’s Fist Bump goes to VectorLink Zimbabwe for the opening of the Malaria Research and Reference Insectary at Africa University (AU) on October 22, 2021.

The insectary will significantly enhance the nation’s fight against malaria and is a reliable source of reference colony mosquitoes required for both research and disease control. Previously, the PMI VectorLink Project and the NMCP relied on field collected mosquitoes for bioassay tests. Field collected mosquitoes have the major disadvantage of being an unknown species or having uncertain susceptibility to insecticides. The insectary will primarily be used by the NMCP and partners for disease control and research, but students both nationally and internationally will benefit from internships at the facility.

Construction took nine months to complete, most of which occurred during lockdown due to COVID-19. The opening ceremony was also delayed as a result. The team had to work with a curfew, with VectorLink team members having to travel 263km one way and come back before curfew. However, progress continued despite the delays and the team, along with AU, Concrete Master, and an external project manager, met virtually and in person to ensure progress continued.

The insectary is a unique, purpose-built facility that is a milestone in the fight against malaria in Zimbabwe that can become a regional training hub in vector control.

Congratulations on this milestone, VectorLink Zimbabwe!

COVID-19 has showed us how important it is to keep malaria services resilient. This week’s Fist Bump goes to VectorLink Madagascar for working to protect their communities from malaria and COVID-19. The official launch for the 2021 IRS campaign took place in the commune of Ankilioaky, in the district of Toliara II, on November 12, 2021; 81 people received vaccinations at the event.

The vaccines were provided by the government of Madagascar, and people were vaccinated by the health center. The event was promoted by a famous, local artist who made the event attractive to people. The initiative was done in collaboration with partners such as Access, Impact, UNICEF, and WHO, who each contributed to the success of the event by providing services like logistical support and assisting with the rental of tents.

Several officials were in attendance such as the Minister of Health, the Chief of the NMCP, the U.S. Ambassador to Madagascar, the Director of Health, Population, and Nutrition from USAID, the PMI Madagascar team, and several implementing partners.

The success was echoed by the Head of PMI Madagascar, Dr. Laurent Kapesa: “As you all know now, the new PMI strategy 2021-2026 has five focus areas. The 3rd focus is about keeping malaria services resilient meaning adapt malaria services to increase resilience against shocks—including COVID-19 and emerging biological threats, conflict, and climate change). By adding COVID-19 vaccination component to this IRS kickoff event, we contributed to implementing our strategy.”

Excellent work in keeping malaria services resilient, VL Madagascar, and congratulations on wrapping up your spray campaign!

This week’s Fist Bump goes to VectorLink Zambia’s Operations Manager, Mambwe Kabaso. She participated in the Women Leaders in Global Health Conference, discussing why women’s leadership is necessary in the fight against malaria.

Female participation in indoor residual spraying (IRS) has improved over the years, but women still face bias as IRS is deemed a male field. Interventions like ensuring women’s privacy and using lighter equipment has enabled higher levels of women’s participation. In Zambia, the inclusion of women in IRS has correlated with higher spray coverage although research has not been conducted to prove this.

Kabaso is a clear leader. She joined the PMI VectorLink project as a district coordinator, working in the Mansa and Chembe districts. Mansa district had low community acceptance, but under Kabaso’s guidance, finished its spray campaign on-time for the first time. This success led to her assisting and mentoring other district coordinators before becoming Operations Manager.

There are many benefits to having more women working within IRS. Women are often the ones preparing the houses for IRS, so seeing other women as Spray Operators, Team Leaders, Supervisors, or Kabaso as the Operations Manager is motivating, and often helps community members feel more comfortable with opening their homes to be sprayed.

Thank you for all your hard work, Kabaso, and for shedding light on the importance of women’s leadership in IRS and in the fight against malaria.

If you missed the conference, you can view it here, but you need to create an account to view it: Women Leaders in Global Health 2021 (conference.tc).

This week’s Fist Bump goes out to VL Mozambique. During its training of seasonal workers for the spray campaign, the project, in coordination with the Ministry of Health (MOH), vaccinated seasonal workers against COVID-19.

VL Mozambique planned to vaccinate 1,266 people, covering Spray Operators, Team Leaders, and Base Supervisors, but the MOH had more vaccines available enabling other staff like Storekeepers, Washers, and Guards to also get the vaccine. Ultimately, 1,496 people were vaccinated

This effort was not without its challenges. One myth surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine was that those vaccinated will die within one year after vaccination. Four people did not want the vaccine and opted out of the spray campaign activities if others were going to be vaccinated. These issues were addressed through sensitization. The VL full-time staff showed that they were fully vaccinated and were alive and okay. The national COVID-19 awareness team was also essential in helping convince seasonal workers to get the vaccine. They showed the reality of COVID-19 by providing daily statistics shared by the MOH, informing the workers of the number of infections and deaths, and how getting vaccinated is needed to reduce those statistics

These vaccinations would not have been able to occur without the project’s collaboration with the MOH, especially the Provincial Directorate of Health, who provided the vaccines in all districts.

Job well done, VL Mozambique! It’s great seeing this collaboration to fight not one, but two diseases!

This week’s fist bump goes out to VectorLink Niger and Niger’s NMCP Deputy Director, Dr. Idrissa SABITI, for effective collaboration and actively taking part in entomological monitoring. Entomological surveillance is a key component of vector control as it provides information on vector species like spatial and temporal distribution, biting and resting behavior, and susceptibility to insecticides. VectorLink Niger, in collaboration with CERMES and NMCP, conducts monthly vector bionomics monitoring in six selected sentinel sites, and tests vector susceptibility to insecticides in fifteen sites.

During the November 2021 field collection, Dr. SABITI, who had never seen how the data collections were conducted, visited the sentinel site of Gaya to check-in with field staff and understand how data is collected. He was accompanied by VectorLink Niger COP, Hadiza SOUMAILA, who helped explain the entomological methods and techniques used for data collection.

The entomological data collected over the years provided information on the susceptibility status of An. gambiae s.l. across the country and supported the NMCP in making evidence-based decisions in the strategic deployment of malaria vector control tools. As a result, the 2019 and 2020 data guided the Niger NMCP to plan the procurement of PBO and IG2 nets for the 2022 mass distribution campaign as well as for routine distribution.

The deputy director was fascinated by the work undertaken by the team and applauded the field teams for the tedious work they were doing to help the country.

Keep up the great work, all!