Success in Malaria Control in Mozambique
Malaria is the most common cause of death in Mozambican children. UNICEF estimates 36,000 children die from malaria every year. Children are not the only group affected by malaria; nearly 5 million malaria cases affecting people of all ages were reported in Mozambique in the year 2008 alone. The growing problems of anti-malarial drug resistance and HIV/AIDS (HIV infection causes greater susceptibility to malaria infection) have exacerbated the malaria problem in Mozambique.
In 2000 with support from the University of Washington, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Association of Schools of Public Health, and USAID, we began our collaboration with the Ministry of Health in its anti-malaria campaign.
The Mozambican Ministry of Health lists the fight against malaria as the first of its five highest-priority campaigns to reduce death from all causes in Mozambique. HAI's malaria project in collaboration with the MOH and the Malaria Control and Evaluation Partnership in Africa (MACEPA) provided technical support to strengthen the National Malaria Strategic Plan.
Success in Malaria Prevention and Treatment
- Insecticide-Treated Bed Nets: Promoted distribution and re-treatment of Insecticide-Treated Bed Nets (ITNs).
- Prevention of Malaria in Pregnancy: Worked with antenatal care facilities to provide insecticide-treated bed nets to pregnant women and by intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) with anti-malarial medication given to the mother during the last 5 months of pregnancy to reduce the risk of death in pregnant women and their infants.
- Intermittent Preventive Treatment: Worked with Mozambique MOH to make IPT available nationwide in Mozambique.
- Anti-Malarial Drug Resistance: Assisted the MOH to conduct studies of anti-malarial drug resistance in central Mozambique to improve and justify effective medication modifications for malaria treatment
- Operations Research Training Program: Started a training program on operations research for mid-level Mozambican health officials. The trainees spend weeks in Maputo, learning research methods at the Centro Regional para Desevolvimento em Saude (Regional Center for Health Development). They then returned to their home districts to conduct practical research on local MOH programs.
- Evidence-Based Patient Management: Worked with the MOH to define evidence-based policy for management of patients who are simultaneously infected with HIV and malaria, with the aim of treating both infections effectively while avoiding toxic medication combinations.
Leave a Reply