Publications by authors named "Benjamin Ramarosandratana"
Background: Madagascar conducted the first two phases of a national free mass distribution campaign of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) during a political crisis in 2009 aiming to achieve coverage of two LLINs per household as part of the National Malaria Control Strategy. The campaign targeted households in 19 out of 91 total health districts.
Methods: A community-based cross-sectional household survey using a three-stage cluster sample design was conducted four months post campaign to assess LLIN ownership, access and use.
Background: The malaria burden in Madagascar dropped down last decade, largely due to scale-up of control measures. Nevertheless, a significant rise of malaria cases occurred in 2011-2012 in two regions of the rainy South-Eastern Madagascar, where malaria is considered as mesoendemic and the population is supposed to be protected by its acquired immunity against Plasmodium. A multidisciplinary investigation was conducted in order to identify the causes of the outbreak.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm) has put into place a bold financing plan for artemisinin-combination therapy in a pilot phase in seven countries covering half the population at risk of malaria in Africa. A report of the AMFm independent evaluation, conducted by ICF International and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, describes the success of the programme in the pilot sites: Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania (mainland and Zanzibar) and Uganda, comparing availability and affordability of high-quality artemisinin-combination therapies before and after AMFm launched. Proof of concept was achieved: AMFm increased availability and kept prices low, meeting its initial, ambitious benchmarks in most settings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMonitoring fever treatment behaviour and equitable access to effective medicines in the context of initiatives to improve ACT access: baseline results and implications for programming in six African countries.
Malar J
October 2011
Article Synopsis
- - Access to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for malaria treatment is significantly low in several high-burden African countries, especially for poorer populations, highlighting disparities in healthcare access.
- - Data from household surveys in six African countries reveal that treatment seeking for malaria is generally poor, with ACT usage ranging from only 3% in Madagascar to 21% in Uganda and Zambia, and wealthier families are more likely to receive treatment than poorer ones.
- - The public sector shows better ACT treatment rates compared to the private sector, despite overall low levels of testing and treatment across both sectors, indicating a need for improved healthcare interventions and education on malaria treatment.
Background: Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is the first-line malaria treatment throughout most of the malaria-endemic world. Data on ACT availability, price and market share are needed to provide a firm evidence base from which to assess the current situation concerning quality-assured ACT supply. This paper presents supply side data from ACTwatch outlet surveys in Benin, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Madagascar, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Strains of Plasmodium falciparum genetically resistant to chloroquine (CQ) due to the presence of pfcrt 76T appear to have been recently introduced to the island of Madagascar. The prevalence of such resistant genotypes is reported to be low (< 3%) when evaluated by conventional PCR. However, these methods are insensitive to low levels of mutant parasites present in patients with polyclonal infections.
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