Research on mosquitoes helps countries make better decisions about how to prevent and control malaria. The U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative partners with Côte d’Ivoire’s National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) to support research institutes that are studying mosquito behavior. As mosquitoes continue to develop resistance to some insecticides, scientists must stay one step ahead to ensure the right vector control measures are in place to protect people from malaria.
In this video, we hear from Yolande Niangara, one of many scientists whose study of mosquito behavior is leading to better malaria control strategies in Côte d’Ivoire. In her role with the country’s NMCP, Yolande works with the National Institute of Public Hygiene and the Swiss Center for Scientific Research, two of the four local research institutions that partner with PMI VectorLink. We also meet two of the leading researchers at those institutes, who talk about how they are contributing to Côte d’Ivoire’s progress in the fight against malaria.
The RBM Partnership To End Malaria Vector Control Working GroupAnnual Meeting convenes the global malaria vector control community to exchange best practices and relevant research for current and future malaria vector control operations. This year’s event is taking place at the Moevenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, Ghana.
PMI VectorLink’s Senior Entomologist/Regional Technical Advisor Sheila Ogoma is a co-chair of RBM VCWG’s “Expanding the Vector Control Toolbox” work stream. In addition, PMI VectorLink will be participating through the following oral and poster presentations.The full agenda can be found here:
Oral Presentations:
Monday, February 6
Physical and insecticidal durability of new ITNs in four sub-Saharan African Countries; 2:40 pm GMT
Presenter: Keith Esch, PMI VectorLink
Policy, People and Resources: Why some countries have scaled up with School-based distribution, others have not, and subsequent recommendations; 4:15 pm GMT
Presenter: Ketty Ndhlovu, Zambian National Malaria Elimination Programme
Tuesday, February 7
Assessing entomological impact of a pilot larval source management using aerial spraying with drones in two districts in Madagascar; 11:20 am GMT
Presenter: Joseph Chabi, PMI VectorLink
Applying a standardized, molecular entomology data labeling system in Ghana to effectively integrate into central DHIS2 database; 3:05 pm GMT
Presenter: Edem Obum, PMI VectorLink
Poster Presentations:
Monday through Wednesday, during lunch break (12:30 – 2:00 pm) and afternoon break (4:00 – 4:30 pm)
Experiences and Lessons Learned from Introducing Klypson and 2GARD in Zambia and Madagascar
Locally Led Community Mobilization at Scale for IRS in Uganda’s Eastern Region
Reflecting Back on Implementation of Facility-Based ITN Distribution in Ghana Using 7 years of DHIS2 Data
Different Approaches to Measure the Quality of Facility-Based ITN Distribution
Implementation of Larval Source Management to Control Anopheles stephensi in Ethiopia
Strengthening Systems for Improved Vector Control Data Management and Use
Despite progress in scaling up malaria control interventions, children in Sub-Saharan Africa are still largely impacted by the disease. Gaps in the distribution of mosquito nets are a contributing factor to children’s vulnerability. In Senegal, among the groups often unreached by formal distribution channels are youth living in religious schools that teach the Koran.
Students who attend these schools, called daaras, are usually boys ages 7 to 15 who are known as talibé children. Many come from families mostly in rural areas. According to Dr. Amdy Thiam, vector control lead for Senegal’s National Malaria Control Program (NMCP), the number of daaras and the talibé children that live in them are not well documented. In 2022, to fill in the knowledge gap, the NMCP, through trained community members, launched a census among religious and education leaders in the Thies region, where many of these schools are located, to determine the number of children living in daaras.
A child learning the Koran in a daara in Méouane health post in Tivaouane. Photo Credit: Louis Dasylva, photographer
Although talibé children are eligible to receive insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) during the mass distributions that are conducted every three years in Senegal, the 2022 mass campaign excluded the Thies region due to limited government resources. These children are not eligible to access ITNs through other means such as routine distribution at health facilities that target pregnant women and children under five. Nor do daaras have the financial resources to purchase ITNs for their students.
To address these gaps, PMI VectorLink Senegal, in coordination with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Social Action through the NMCP, planned to reach talibé children via a pilot project which distributed ITNs at no-cost to daaras in the health district of Tivaouane, one of the nine districts in the Thies Region. Tivaouane health district has more than 200 daaras, home to approximately 50 talibé children per daara.
“Financial barriers are the main obstacles to vector control through ITNs in most daaras,” stated PMI VectorLink Senegal’s Abdul-Aziz Mbaye, who manages ITN distribution for the project, noting that in the few daaras where ITNs were available, there were not enough. Of the ITNs that were present, many were worn, with holes and insecticide that was likely no longer effective.
Providing nets to the daaras was the first step. The next challenge was to adapt to the non-traditional sleeping quarters found in most of these schools. In most daaras, there are no regular beds. Children sleep on mattresses or mats on the floor, and three to five children often share one mattress. In some cases, the ITN size was smaller than the dedicated sleeping places. To help address this, VectorLink Senegal provided samples of merged ITNs (made by sewing together two ITNs to increase the size) to cover sleeping places of more than four talibé children. The daaras can replicate this model using local tailors but the pilot project showed that less than 20% of daaras merged the ITNs.
Another challenge is that many dormitories also serve as classrooms, with this multipurpose usage a barrier to the consistent use of bed nets. Mbaye shared that “the multiple uses [of rooms] prevent the permanent hanging of ITNs in the sleeping areas. To address this, daaras leadership requested support to acquire materials for the permanent hanging of ITNs in multi-purpose rooms.
Talibés sleeping under an ITN at a Daara in Medine health post in Tivaouane. Photo Credit: Louis Dasylva, photographer
To further promote proper and consistent use of ITNs, PMI VectorLink Senegal, the NMCP, regional and district health officials, and daaras’ leadership developed posters in French, Arabic, and Wolof (written using the Arabic alphabet), the local language, and placed them in each daara that received ITNs. The posters focused on the advantages of using ITNs while sleeping, and how to properly hang a net.
Talibé children in front of the poster in Wolof written in Arabic. Photo Credit: Louis Dasylva, photographer
In total, PMI VectorLink Senegal and the NMCP distributed 7,312 ITNs to 237 daaras in August 2022, protecting 12,246 talibé children. When PMI VectorLink Senegal and the NMCP returned one month later to monitor the hanging of the nets, they found that in the daaras visited (89 percent), 82 percent of the ITNs distributed were hung, and all the talibé children at those daaras were sleeping under an ITN every night. The project’s close partnership with daaras’ leadership and the involvement of other local authorities responsible for governing and regulations concerning education and training in all aspects of planning and execution led to the successful implementation of the pilot.
Dr. Thiam stated that the NMCP will review the lessons learned from the pilot, and PMI VectorLink Senegal also identified points for improvement. For example, if there are future distributions (which the NMCP and PMI have yet to decide), the NMCP and its partners should perhaps share responsibility with daaras for merging ITNs.
This pilot can help fill gaps in access to ITNs and eliminate barriers to proper and consistent use. Advancing equity in access moves Senegal towards its goal of achieving malaria elimination by 2030.
As we move into 2023, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) VectorLink project is taking a short look back at some of our successes last year. Here are 2022’s best stories on how we partnered with countries to strengthen local ownership of malaria control interventions, reached some of the populations most vulnerable to malaria, and drove innovations to end malaria faster, along with a few profiles of some of the people that make this work possible.
Chisenga Island in Zambia is between one and three hours via boat from the mainland. Due to its remote location, malaria prevention is critical. The U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative, in collaboration with the Zambian Ministry of Health and its partners, provides life-saving malaria prevention interventions: spraying homes with insecticide and distributing mosquito nets. In this new video, we meet community member Fainess Mubanga and others, who come together to contribute to these malaria prevention efforts.
The U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) VectorLink Zambia Project has been named a winner in the USAID 2022 Digital Development Awards, which recognizes the use of technology to promote inclusive growth, foster resilient democratic societies, and empower communities around the world, including the most vulnerable and marginalized. PMI VectorLink Zambia, implemented by Abt Associates, was recognized for deploying a suite of digital tools that supports map-based data collection, monitoring, and capacity building to improve malaria control programs.
In 2020, malaria killed more than 600,000 people globally, with the disease burden exacerbated by shocks such as emerging disease threats like COVID-19, conflict, and climate change. Vector control programs such as distribution of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) are some of the best ways of combating malaria, but the effectiveness of these campaigns relies upon real-time monitoring and evaluation data at community levels. To address this need, the PMI VectorLink Zambia Project mobilizes the digital tools necessary for Zambia to have quality, timely, secure, and accessible health information and is working with the Zambian government to apply them.
PMI VectorLink Zambia, in partnership with Akros, has developed a suite of digital tools, including the use of satellite imagery, digital micro planning maps, and a mobile application (Reveal), to guide and track the delivery of indoor residual spraying at the household level to ensure no communities or structures are missed. The project has supported the Zambian National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and stakeholder workforce to use and apply the geospatial data for decision-making and to build a culture around data-use and technology. Additionally, PMI VectorLink Zambia is supporting the Zambian Ministry of Health to integrate project files into their routine data systems for expanded, long-term use of the datasets.
PMI VectorLink Chief of Party Nduka Iwuchukwu notes that having ready access to accurate, geographically distributed population and structure counts is essential to successfully plan and deploy malaria control interventions.
“The digital micro-planning and mapping tools helped the NMEP in 2021 to maximize the impact and coverage of its vector control strategy by delineating which communities would receive nets and which would be sprayed, based on their epidemiologic and operational profiles,” said VectorLink Zambia Chief of Party Nduka Iwuchukwu. “Incorporating the latest population and satellite data at a granular, sub-district level enhanced the planning exercise, and the continued use of the maps moving forward will benefit not only the country’s malaria elimination program, but other health programming across Zambia.”
Supervisor review of map created by Reveal tool. This photo and photo above courtesy of Akros.
PMI VectorLink Zambia is part of the global PMI VectorLink Project, which works across 25 countries, supporting national governments to plan and implement proven, life-saving vector control programs, including IRS and the distribution of ITNs, with the overall goal of reducing the burden of malaria. The project uses a variety of rigorous data capture, data management, and data analytics tools across its portfolio, and country teams work side-by-side with their respective National Malaria Control Programs (NMCPs). Through the project-developed VectorLink Collect, a DHIS2-based database system, VectorLink manages a tremendous volume of data, and makes it accessible at all levels to internal and external stakeholders including NMCPs, USAID missions, in-country health teams and research partners, and PMI and USAID clients in Washington.
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USAID’s Innovation, Technology, and Research Hub received nearly 200 applications from around the world for this year’s awards. Each project was judged on its ability to support the digital ecosystem or digital technology development as outlined in USAID’s Digital Strategy. The other winners of this year’s Digis include the USAID/Colombia Rural Finance Initiative, USAID/RDMA Digital Asia Accelerator, USAID/Georgia Economic Security Program, and USAID/Nepal Building Hope Along the Karnali River Basin (BHAKARI) Program.
The world has been rocked by high inflation and fuel shortages throughout 2022, and these challenges have impacted the delivery of malaria control services in many countries. Rising costs and limited supplies complicated routine vector control interventions—the distribution of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) in Ghana and the deployment of indoor residual spraying (IRS) in Sierra Leone. But with the help of strong local partners and some creative planning, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) VectorLink Project supported both countries in meeting their intended goals despite the obstacles in their way.
Ghana
In Ghana, teachers in public schools embarked on a nationwide strike in July over the increasing cost-of-living and demanded the government pay them a cost-of-living allowance to help cope with the impacts of high inflation.
Ghana’s school-based ITN distribution coincided with the teachers’ strike. The National Malaria Elimination Program (NMEP) and the School Health Education Program (SHEP), assisted by PMI VectorLink Ghana had originally planned to distribute 1,476,362 nets to students in primary two (second grade) and primary six (sixth grade) who would take these ITNs home for their households to use.
To facilitate the distribution, the NMEP and SHEP, with PMI VectorLink Ghana’s assistance, organized and trained 3,331 regional and district officers from the Ghana Education Service (GES) and Ghana Health Service to assist in the planning and management of the distribution, as well as supervision. A mobile app called Net4Schs was used in the exercise to record and report the distribution data.
At the beginning of the second week of the strike action, when the public school teachers were no longer in the schools, PMI VectorLink, the NMEP, and SHEP amended the plan and used community information centers in rural and semi-urban areas to mobilize parents and students to receive nets since the public schools were not in session due to the strike. Head teachers and their assistants, who GES directed to remain in school, led the mobilization effort. They were also supported by school improvement support officers (similar to a school district’s superintendent) responsible for record keeping and data entry of nets distributed to students. In the private schools, which constitute 45 percent of primary schools in Ghana, students were able to receive their ITNs as originally planned because schools were in session. Students attending public schools in urban areas had to wait until the strike action was called off due to the difficulty in mobilizing parents who did not respond to requests from school authorities at the same rate as those in more rural areas.
In total, PMI VectorLink Ghana, the NMEP, and SHEP distributed over 1.4 million nets to students in 25,245 public and private schools. Together, the NMEP, SHEP, and PMI VectorLink Ghana monitored the distribution, ensuring students received the correct ITNs.
School children in Atebubu ATSEC Model Primary School after receiving ITNs through school-based distribution. Photo Credit: Kwasi Djan
Sierra Leone
Prices of oil began to skyrocket towards the end of 2021 as the global economy bounced back from the lull caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. With fuel stations not operating at full capacity because of a shortage of reserves in Sierra Leone, adequate fuel supply was hard to find.
PMI VectorLink covers vast distances during its campaigns to spray people’s homes with mosquito-killing insecticide. In Sierra Leone, the project sprays in two districts, Bo and Bombali. In May 2022, the team had the immense challenge of finding enough fuel, so they could protect over 650,000 people from malaria in the two districts with IRS before the rainy season began in early June.
To reach these people, many of whom live in remote communities, vehicles are crucial. Spray teams often need to travel long distances to reach the communities where spraying occurs. In 2021, fuel logistics were relatively simple—teams used local fuel stations—but in 2022, most local stations had major fuel shortages. As a result, PMI VectorLink Sierra Leone contracted a major fuel provider, National Petroleum, to ensure enough supply throughout the campaign. The team also had support from the District Health Management Teams, who had intermittent strategic stocks of fuel.
To cope with a limited fuel supply, PMI VectorLink Sierra Leone adjusted their daily spray calendar based on fuel availability, and they fully utilized community mobilizers to maintain regular communication with the target communities, so that residents would be as flexible as possible for potential spray date changes. For most villages, that occurred twice on average. If fuel supply was very low or not available on a specific date, the team would quickly reassess their calendar and conduct IRS in communities close to the base of operations versus spraying remote villages that day.
This strategy allowed the team to minimize disruptions as much as possible. In addition, quick coordination across all operational sites was possible due to the strong partnership with the local District Health Management Teams, who were integrated as part of the overall PMI VectorLink team and assigned to specific operational sites for local government capacity strengthening.
During the 2022 spray campaign, PMI VectorLink Sierra Leone sprayed 143,509 structures over 24 working days, protecting 652,232 people. The PMI VectorLink team did not let the fuel challenges impede their efforts to make this campaign a successful one. The team’s efforts paid off. PMI VectorLink Sierra Leone reached most of the houses they intended to spray and successfully met the 85 percent coverage goal as outlined by the World Health Organization.
Spray teams on their way to the community from the operational site. Photo credit: Program Manager Djenam Jacob.
Mosquito vector control efforts often have challenges that need to be overcome, so malaria services can be delivered to those that need them most. While global challenges can impact the delivery of these services, careful planning and flexibility can enable successful interventions despite the challenges.
The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Annual Meeting is the premier forum for the exchange of scientific advances in tropical medicine, global health, and hygiene. This year’s event is taking place at the Seattle Convention Center in Seattle, Washington, USA.
VectorLink is pleased to announce our participation through the following symposium, oral presentations, and poster presentations, as follows.
The Expansion of Anopheles Stephensi into the Horn of Africa and Beyond: How African Malaria Vector Surveillance and Control Is Adapting
Organizer: Matt Kirby, PMI VectorLink Project, Abt Associates
This symposium offers a pivotal opportunity to help build global consensus on a unified response to the urgent issue of the invasion and expansion of Anopheles Stephensi in Africa. It provides a forum for discussion around the challenges faced by four of the currently impacted countries—Ethiopia, India, Kenya, and Sudan—as well as the most feasible and scalable activities that should be implemented to address these challenges. We ask whether the goal should be elimination from Africa or containment and control.
Efficacy of Partial Versus Full Surface Indoor Residual Spraying Against Wild Populations of Anopheles gambiae Sensu Lato in Experimental Huts in Tiassalé, Côte d’Ivoire
Speaker: Joseph Chabi, The PMI VectorLink Project, Abt Associates
Presenter: Matthew Kirby, the PMI VectorLink Project, Abt Associates; Dr. Siv Sovannaroth and Mao Sokny, National Center for Parasitology, Entomology, and Malaria Control, Cambodia.
Presenters: Hadiza Soumaila, The PMI VectorLink Project, Abt Associates; Boube Hamani, National Malaria Control Program, Niger; Ibrahim Issa Arzika, Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire, Niger.
Poster Session C | Wednesday, November 2 | 11:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. PST
Presenters: Kevin Opondo, Laurent Iyikirenga, The PMI VectorLink Project, Abt Associates; Frederick Yamba, National Malaria Control Program, Sierra Leone.
Jacky Raharinjatovo, seen below, joined the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) VectorLink Project as a regional research manager, based in Madagascar, in February 2022. A Malagasy citizen, he has a Master’s degree in statistics from the University of Antananarivo, and has been conducting public health research for 18 years. Much of his current work focuses on durability monitoring of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), but he has deep experience in all kinds of malaria research, including contributing data for the Malaria Indicator Survey and studying malaria case management among private sector outlets. Jacky recently took the time to share more about his work for PMI VectorLink.
Tell us a little bit about your career path.
After university, I started my professional career in research, which aligned with my academic interests. Since 2004, I’ve been working for PSI Madagascar, where I started as a deputy research coordinator. I was part of the first team to pioneer the use of electronic data collection (EDC) in Madagascar, using a personal digital assistant (PDA) to collect data during a household survey related to malaria prevention and treatment. Following the initial success of that initiative, EDC was expanded to other PSI countries, and I was asked to develop a toolkit and document the lessons learned for research colleagues in other countries. The introduction of EDC was a big innovation that helped to improve data quality and provide data faster for malaria surveys. PSI is one of the partners on the PMI VectorLink Project, and when the opportunity arose to serve as a regional research manager for the project, I took it, because malaria remains a major challenge in many parts of the world and research is critical to continue the fight against malaria.
How does your role as regional research manager contribute to the fight against malaria?
I support activities in six countries within the PMI VectorLink Project: Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal. I interact regularly with each country team including the chief of party, in-country research agencies, and other partners to monitor progress on all research-related activities, identify challenges, and provide solutions.
Insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) are an important component in malaria control, and durability monitoring—which generates evidence on ITN survivorship, physical durability, and insecticide effectiveness—is a key part of my work with the project. Durability monitoring helps to inform procurement and programmatic decisions for ITN campaigns and continuous distribution. My day-to-day work varies, depending upon any country’s timeline within the durability monitoring process, but can include designing study protocols, supporting training of trainers, and in-person training, conducting remote data quality checks for countries with ongoing field work, data cleaning and data analysis, and writing study reports.
Ultimately, my job is to provide high-quality evidence to governments, donors, and manufacturers of ITNs to support their decision-making regarding vector control. This can include data being used to inform social and behavior change communication (SBC) messages regarding ITNs. As a member of the dynamic PMI VectorLink team, I contribute to the saving of lives indirectly through the surveillance of ITN durability.
Why is studying the effectiveness of ITNs so important?
A ruler used to measure ITN hole size has color-coded markings for each of the four standard hole sizes measured during a durability monitoring study. Photo Credit: Jacky Raharinjatovo
The goal for malaria intervention programs is to reduce malaria-related mortality and morbidity. Malaria control programs generally combine prevention and case management, which are complementary and work together. PMI VectorLink’s focus is controlling malaria vectors through the use and study of ITNs, indoor residual spraying (IRS), and entomological monitoring. In terms of ITNs, the insecticides used on them are needed to repel mosquitoes and to prevent mosquito bites. The effectiveness of these insecticides decreases over time, as demonstrated by the surveillance of the durability monitoring study conducted in PMI VectorLink countries. Measuring ITN durability like this provides evidence to donors and governments on the effectiveness of ITNs, which helps them to make decisions on where to prioritize their malaria control efforts and which nets to use and helps insecticide manufacturers improve their products’ efficacy to kill and repel mosquitoes.
The evidence generated through durability monitoring contributes to making ITNs more durable, which helps in the efficient use of funds. The longer the lifespan of ITNs, the more resources we save for other priorities.
What do you find most challenging and rewarding about your job?
After several years of implementation, the biggest challenge is data use. There is often no clear action plan at the community level once data has been collected and analyzed. When there is a plan, monitoring is often lacking. In addition, the timeline between data collection, analysis, developing a data dissemination and action plan, and budgeting implementation of activities takes too long in relation to the timeline of the research activity itself.
For me as a researcher, I recommend the use of data at all levels—at the highest level among governments, donors, the Ministry of Health, and at the regional level within communities that collaborated during data collection. The government should be the first to use data to adjust strategies. Seeing my work used in an official document, such as a proposal or a national strategic plan, or when it is published in an official journal, makes me very happy and is rewarding.
What do you wish other people knew about the project?
People should know that our ITN mass distribution campaigns are supported by a three-year longitudinal prospective study which includes a net durability study to evaluate how long nets last, their physical integrity, and insecticide effectiveness. ITN-related decisions in many countries—including net characteristics such as the type of net and chemical content, as well as SBC messages such as recommended frequency for washing nets, type of soap used during washing, and drying method—are based on the evidence derived from the net durability study.
What are your hopes for the future in the fight against malaria?
I am hopeful that malaria will be eliminated from Madagascar in the next 10 years. In the short term, I think that malaria morbidity and mortality will be significantly reduced within the next three to five years, and then people will be able to live and work without the fear of contracting malaria. I believe that there will be a widely available, cost-effective, and efficacious malaria vaccine.
In June 2022, the U. S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) VectorLink Tanzania team transitioned all indoor residual spraying (IRS) activities in Zanzibar to the Zanzibar Malaria Elimination Programme (ZAMEP), as the program continues its progress towards eliminating malaria in Zanzibar by 2023.
In a close-out ceremony, the Ministry of Health (MOH) Zanzibar’s Director of Preventative Services, Dr. Ali Nyanga, thanked PMI and PMI VectorLink Tanzania for three successful IRS campaigns that achieved coverage rates above 90 percent, as well as for contributions to strengthening the “sustained capacity and ability of ZAMEP staff to handle IRS.”
PMI has partnered with ZAMEP over the last seven years to conduct IRS campaigns. Since 2018, this partnership has been through the PMI VectorLink Project. In 2021, PMI VectorLink transitioned the management of the IRS campaign to ZAMEP, providing technical assistance as needed, with the goal of handing off full IRS responsibilities directly to ZAMEP this year. ZAMEP is now transitioning from full, large-scale IRS campaigns to rapid-response IRS in areas that experience malaria outbreaks.
A spray operator is accompanied to a structure in Zanzibar (2017) to spray it with insecticide. Photo Credit: Laura McCarty
In addition to supporting the government of Zanzibar’s efforts to strengthen capacity in planning and implementing safe, cost-effective, and sustainable IRS campaigns, PMI VectorLink Tanzania worked with ZAMEP and its partners to strengthen their information systems and build their capacity to collect, manage, and use IRS data. Over the past year, the project team guided ZAMEP to establish interoperability between Coconut Surveillance, an integrated data system to support malaria surveillance and elimination in Zanzibar, and the Zanzibar Ministry of Health District Health Information Software (DHIS) 2 system—allowing the two systems to exchange information for evidence-based decision making in a timely manner.
PMI VectorLink Tanzania also introduced ZAMEP to mobile data collection during IRS campaigns, enhancing their team’s digital capabilities. Over the last year, the project guided the ZAMEP team to develop its own mobile application, which it will use to collect data during rapid response IRS activities. These efforts have left the ZAMEP team with increased competence and confidence in their data collection, reporting, and analysis skills.
At the close-out event, Dr. Nyanga commended PMI VectorLink Tanzania for contributing to strengthening gender equity and youth employment through IRS work as well. Since the program’s inception, PMI VectorLink Tanzania has identified barriers to women’s participation in IRS and implemented policies to overcome those barriers. In Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania, PMI VectorLink piloted a 1:2 male-to-female ratio of spray operator recruitment in 2019/2020, after low participation of women in prior years. This initiative resulted in 42% of the seasonal IRS workforce being female, and women’s employment has remained high through the subsequent IRS campaigns. Dr. Nyanga cited this as a “great achievement” in his remarks, further noting that “90 percent of those employed are under the age of 35. This empowerment of youth is what the Government of Zanzibar is striving for.”
With the increasing use of the new type of nets, including pyrethroid-PBO insecticide-treated nets, mass IRS campaigns will be less frequent and rapid response efforts will occur as needed when there are malaria outbreaks.
Director of Preventative Services Dr. Ali Nyanga addressing the audience at the closeout celebration at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Zanzibar. Photo Credit: Leonard Mutani, photographer
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