How Outreach Training and Supportive Supervision (OTSS) Affect Health Facility Readiness and Health-Care Worker Competency to Prevent and Treat Malaria in Niger: A Secondary Analysis of OTSS Data.

The quality of health services is key to the goal of averting morbidity and mortality from malaria. From July 2020 to August 2021, PMI Impact Malaria supported the implementation of four rounds of Outreach Training and Supportive Supervision (OTSS) in 12 health districts in the two regions of Niger: Dosso and Tahoua. Through OTSS, trained supervisors conducted onsite visits to observe an average of 174 healthcare workers (HCWs) per round in 96 public primary health facilities, managing persons with fever or conducting antenatal care (ANC) consultations, and then provided instant and individualized feedback and onsite training.

Impact of the Severe Malaria "Champions Program" on the Management of Severe Malaria Cases in 12 Hospitals of the North and Far North Regions of Cameroon.

Malaria remains a main cause of morbidity and mortality in Cameroon. Since 2021, the U.S.

Clinical Outreach Training and Supportive Supervision Quality-of-Care Analysis: Impact of Readiness Factors on Health Worker Competencies in Malaria Case Management in Cameroon, Mali, and Niger.

Improving the quality of malaria clinical case management in health facilities is key to improving health outcomes in patients. The U.S.

The U.S. President's Malaria Initiative's Support for Improving the Quality of Malaria Case Management Services: Fifteen Years of Progress and Learning.

Since its launch in 2005, the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative's (PMI) investment in malaria case management has evolved based on lessons learned from its support to countries.

Malaria elimination using the 1-3-7 approach: lessons from Sampov Loun, Cambodia.

Background: Cambodia has targeted malaria elimination within its territory by 2025 and is developing a model elimination package of strategies and interventions designed to achieve this goal.

Methods: Cambodia adopted a simplified 1-3-7 surveillance model in the Sampov Loun operational health district in western Cambodia beginning in July 2015. The 1-3-7 approach targets reporting of confirmed cases within one day, investigation of specific cases within three days, and targeted control measures to prevent further transmission within seven days.

Introducing malaria rapid diagnostic tests in private medicine retail outlets: A systematic literature review.

Background: Many patients with malaria-like symptoms seek treatment in private medicine retail outlets (PMR) that distribute malaria medicines but do not traditionally provide diagnostic services, potentially leading to overtreatment with antimalarial drugs. To achieve universal access to prompt parasite-based diagnosis, many malaria-endemic countries are considering scaling up malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) in these outlets, an intervention that may require legislative changes and major investments in supporting programs and infrastructures. This review identifies studies that introduced malaria RDTs in PMRs and examines study outcomes and success factors to inform scale up decisions.

A health systems approach to integrated community case management of childhood illness: methods and tools.

Integrated community case management (iCCM) of childhood illness is an increasingly popular strategy to expand life-saving health services to underserved communities. However, community health approaches vary widely across countries and do not always distribute resources evenly across local health systems. We present a harmonized framework, developed through interagency consultation and review, which supports the design of CCM by using a systems approach.

Broken promise? Taxes and tariffs on insecticide treated mosquito nets.

Seven years ago, the removal of taxes and tariffs on insecticide treated nets (ITNs) was considered one of the easiest resolutions for most countries to implement among the targets agreed upon at the African Summit on Roll Back Malaria in Abuja, Nigeria, on April 25, 2000. However, seven years later, 24 of the 39 Abuja signatories continue to impose taxes and tariffs on this life-saving tool. Taxes and tariffs significantly increase the price of an insecticide treated net, reduce affordability, and discourage the commercial sector from importing insecticide treated net products.

Four malaria success stories: how malaria burden was successfully reduced in Brazil, Eritrea, India, and Vietnam.

While many countries struggle to control malaria, four countries, Brazil, Eritrea, India, and Vietnam, have successfully reduced malaria burden. To determine what led these countries to achieve impact, published and unpublished reports were reviewed and selected program and partner staff were interviewed to identify common factors that contributed to these successes. Common success factors included conducive country conditions, a targeted technical approach using a package of effective tools, data-driven decision-making, active leadership at all levels of government, involvement of communities, decentralized implementation and control of finances, skilled technical and managerial capacity at national and sub-national levels, hands-on technical and programmatic support from partner agencies, and sufficient and flexible financing.

Do malaria control interventions reach the poor? A view through the equity lens.

Malaria, more than any other disease of major public health importance in developing countries, disproportionately affects poor people, with 58% of malaria cases occurring in the poorest 20% of the world's population. If malaria control interventions are to achieve their desired impact, they must reach the poorest segments of the populations of developing countries. Unfortunately, a growing body of evidence from benefit-incidence analyses has demonstrated that many public health interventions that were designed to aid the poor are not reaching their intended target.

Antibiotic resistance and serotype distribution of Streptococcus pneumoniae colonizing rural Malawian children.

Nasopharyngeal swabs were taken from 906 Malawian children <5 years old visiting rural health clinics. Pneumococcal colonization was high, 84% among all children, and occurred early, 65% of it in children <3 months old. Among pneumococcal isolates 46% were nonsusceptible to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and 21% were nonsusceptible to penicillin.

Efficacy of chloroquine, sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, and mefloquine for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria on the north coast of Peru.

As part of an effort to assess antimalarial drug resistance in Peru, we carried out 14-day in vivo efficacy trials of chloroquine (CQ; 25 mg/kg) and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP; 25 mg/kg of the sulfadoxine component) for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum infections at three sites on the northern coast of Peru. Mefloquine (MQ; 15 mg/kg) also was evaluated at one site. The results from all three sites were similar.