Senegal

Malaria is endemic throughout Senegal and the entire population is at risk. Transmission occurs seasonally and is affected by rainfall and persistent flooding, especially in peri-urban areas. While the number of reported malaria cases has dropped in recent years, malaria is still a major cause of morbidity and mortality and a high priority for the government. Senegal has made significant progress against malaria and remains a leader in piloting and scaling up new recommendations and strategies to increase the reach and effectiveness of interventions. 

As part of an effort to scale up vector control (VC) interventions, the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) has received support from the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) for Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS). In Senegal, IRS implementation began as a pilot in three health districts (Velingara, Nioro, and Richard-Toll) in 2007. Beginning in 2015, targeted IRS was implemented within districts where health posts reported high malaria incidence (> 15 cases/ 1000 inhabitants).

In 2020, the PMI VectorLink project in Senegal resumed IRS activities in four health districts located in three regions, namely Koungheul (Kaffrine region), Koumpentoum and Makacolibatang (Tambacounda region) and Kedougou district (Kedougou region). In total, 136,417 structures were sprayed out of 137,932 structures found for a coverage level of 98.9%

Although the overall spray progress in the four IRS districts was high at 101%, it was low in Kedougou (34%). VectorLink conducted an enumeration to improve coverage for 2021.

In 2021, PMI VectorLink continued spray activities in the same four districts. In total, 141,717 structures were sprayed out of 145,870 structures found, for a coverage level of 97.2 percent in 2021. In 2022, the project will continue spraying in the same four health districts; however, four health posts sprayed in previous years – Kedougou, Dalaba, Fadiga, and Sylla Counda – will not be sprayed in 2022 due to multiple challenges such as high refusal rates in these semi-urban areas in the last two years that resulted in low spray coverage (58.4% structures sprayed in Kedougou district in 2021).

In year five (January 2022 – December 2022), the goal of PMI VectorLink is to increase access to integrated malaria vector control interventions in Senegal.

The three specific objectives are:

  • Objective 1: Reach a minimum spray coverage of 85 percent of the structures found in each target district by implementing high-quality IRS operations.
  • Objective 2: Conduct entomological monitoring activities in selected sites.
  • Objective 3: Support the distribution of ITNs through routine channels.

PMI VectorLink will achieve these objectives through the following strategies:

  • Strengthen capacity at the national, regional, district, and local levels to manage IRS operations, including planning, spraying, resource allocation, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E).
  • Mainstream gender equality and female empowerment by promoting women’s meaningful and equitable participation across all project activities.
  • Strengthen the IRS logistics and warehousing system through enhanced training and supervision.
  • Ensure safe and correct insecticide application, thus minimizing human and environmental exposure to IRS insecticides, in compliance with the Pesticide Evaluation Report and Safer Use Action Plan and Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA).
  • Subcontract with the Universite Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) for entomological monitoring activities.
  • Work collaboratively with the NMCP, regions, and districts to support the routine distribution of ITNs.

These objectives will be achieved by implementing the following activities:

  • Conduct training with a focus on IRS supervision and spray techniques to improve the overall quality of
  • Conduct IRS environmental compliance activities and inspections.
  • Conduct regular M&E of project activities to ensure alignment with set targets and objectives.
  • Work collaboratively with the NMCP to coordinate community mobilization activities in collaboration with stakeholders to raise awareness of IRS and ITN interventions, promote their acceptance and use, and encourage beneficiary and stakeholder ownership.
  • Conduct insecticide susceptibility and synergist tests nationwide and measure the resistance intensity, as required, for the main malaria vectors, Anopheles gambiael. and An. funestus s.l.
  • Monitor the density, species composition, behavior, blood meal sources, and Plasmodium sporozoite infection rates of malaria vectors in 25 sites across 14 districts in eight regions.
  • Monitor the residual life of the sprayed insecticides using wall cone bioassays in the four IRS districts.
  • Implement community based entomological activities
  • Ensure receipt and storage of all PMI-procured ITNs for routine distribution.
  • Distribute ITNs to each of the medical regions and to the health districts in the regions of Dakar and Thies, as needed.
  • Provide technical assistance to the central, regional, and district levels for the routine distribution of ITNs in order to build their capacity and improve their systems.
  • Collaborate with other implementing partners to complement each other’s work and avoid duplication of efforts in IRS and routine distribution of ITNs activities.
  • Collaborate with the NMCP to revise the 2017–2020 Insecticide Resistance Management Plan for the next period covering 2022–2025.
  • Conduct the ITN durability monitoring baseline assessment three to four months following the mass distribution campaign (sites to be selected).
  • Conduct larval habitat survey in Dakar and Touba to assess and identify the probable presence of stephensi in Senegal