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'Net flashes: News from Zambia and beyond
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Three million LLITNs being distributed in Zambia. Three million long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets (LLITNs) are being distributed in Zambia in 2007, keeping the
country squarely on track to achieve its goal of rapidly reducing death and sickness from malaria. Any pregnant woman seeking prenatal care at a
public health center now can obtain preventive medicines as well as LLITNs for herself and any children under age five living with her. This week,
one million net retreatment kits are being distributed as part of a collaborative effort for Child Health Week. See the full story
below and read more on Zambia’s progress
here.
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Photo: PATH (David Jacobs)
Having a strong work force will help Zambia achieve its malaria control goals.
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Zambia convenes conference to tackle HR crisis. Zambia is moving forward in its commitment to address its human resources crisis. On June 7-8, Zambia's Ministry of Health, the Directorate of Public Health and Research, and the
National Health Research Advisory Committee convened a conference titled Human Resources for Health Research, which culminated with the development of
a roadmap to address critical issues including cultivating a larger human resources pool and improving work conditions.
PATH headquarters in Seattle hosts key global health
events. On April 25, PATH hosted the first-ever Seattle community commemoration of Africa Malaria Day,
headlined by Mr. Bill Gates, Sr., co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who had recently returned from Zambia where he witnessed the
country's progress in tackling malaria. More than 120 people attended the event, which also showcased some of Seattle's leaders in malaria
research, treatment, and prevention. On May 22, Dr. Chilandu Mukuka, deputy coordinator of Zambia's National Malaria Control Centre (NMCC), gave a powerful keynote address to nearly 900
people attending PATH's annual Global Health Breakfast. Her compelling presentation highlighted malaria's devastating impact on her family and her
country and the difference that is being made through Zambia's joint efforts with MACEPA and other Roll Back Malaria
partners.
National Geographic magazine highlights global malaria control.
Progress and challenges in the global fight against malaria are presented in the June issue of National Geographic, with a special focus on
efforts in Zambia. Read the article
here.
MACEPA welcomes an exceptional leader to the team. Judith
Robb-McCord has joined the MACEPA team as the director of the Learning Community based in Lusaka, Zambia, beginning August 15, 2007. She comes to PATH with over 15 years of experience in
international development and health systems strengthening. Most recently, she served as health team leader for USAID in Addis Ababa, where she
managed the health, population, and nutrition portfolio. Previously Judith served as the program director for the Maternal and Neonatal Health
Program at JHPIEGO. She has worked extensively in sub-Saharan Africa, holding USAID postings in Ethiopia, Côte d'Ivoire, Eritrea and Kenya; and
she worked in Swaziland as a program officer with UNICEF. We are thrilled to have a leader with Judith's experience and energy to lead the
Learning Community charge.
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Zambia partners’ voices: Measles immunization campaign and ITN retreatment
Dr. Rogers Mwale, project officer,
UNICEF Zambia |
This week, which is Child
Health Week, UNICEF is teaming up with the Zambia Ministry of Health, its Roll Back Malaria partners, and other partners to
conduct an integrated measles campaign aimed at immunizing 2 million children under age five while also retreating 1 million bed nets.
"Piggybacking" other health intervention efforts with vaccination campaigns is not a new strategy, but the diversity of the partnership in Zambia and
the nimbleness with which this effort has been organized makes it stand apart.
The retreatment kits, all
purchased by the World Bank, are targeted for distribution to all nine provinces of Zambia with a concentration in Western and Northwestern
Provinces. A vigorous health education campaign, including an insecticide-treated net (ITN) retreatment education campaign, is being led by the
Ministry of Health with support from partners including UNICEF, World Health
Organization, Health Services and Systems
Program, USAID's Health Communication Partnership, Red Cross, CARE International, and Plan International. This will occur as part of the
distribution efforts, ensuring that communities understand why refreshing the insecticide on older nets is important and how it should be
done. While all new ITNs being distributed in Zambia are long-lasting nets impregnated with insecticide, remaining
nets in some parts of the country require retreatment.
This has been a remarkable
joint effort and is just the type of collaboration that makes Zambia stand out in its commitment to having a real, sustained impact on
malaria. |
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MACEPA in Zambia: Country director’s
perspectives
Dr. Abdi
Mohamed |
Photo:
PATH (David Jacobs)
Strengthening Zambia's long-term ability to manage the process is vital to
sustaining these efforts over time. |
With so much focus and effort in Zambia on making sure that ITNs are being distributed
where needed, indoor residual spraying (IRS) is occurring as planned, and medicines are available on demand—especially for those most
vulnerable to malaria—it’s easy to overlook the less tangible progress the country is making on tackling the disease. While getting the
interventions out to communities is of course critical, doing so in a way that supports and strengthens Zambia’s long-term ability to manage
the process is vital to sustaining these efforts over time.
MACEPA is privileged to have the opportunity to strategically support Zambia and other countries to make long strides in
strengthening their expertise in national malaria scale-up program planning, logistics, and management. Tools and methods are being tested and
applied in Zambia to support areas such as monitoring and evaluation, work planning, logistics management of ITN distribution, and human resource
assessments. Infrastructural improvements, such as establishing a reliable computer network, which makes the NMCC Zambia’s first health
program to be fully connected, and an NMCC web site, have facilitated easy access to information about malaria in Zambia and activities related to
the National Malaria Strategic Plan. Investments in staff training for key activities, such as conducting surveys, and intensive technical assistance
in other areas, such as budget management and contract monitoring, have had good payoff in terms of increasing Zambia’s ability to manage this
complex effort. While these are not high-profile activities prone to generating much publicity, they are indeed the building blocks for developing
long-term solutions. |
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Vistas: Strength through strategic
partnerships
Dr. Bernard Nahlen, deputy coordinator, US President's Malaria Initiative
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Photo: USAID/PMI
Dr.Bernard Nahlen, deputy coordinator, US
President's Malaria Initiative |
One of the most striking themes
apparent as the US
President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) enters its second year of implementation
is the critical role that strong, flexible partnerships play in rapidly reducing the intolerable burden of malaria on the health of young children
and pregnant women. No single institution or agency working at the national, regional, or international level has enough capacity and resources to do
the job which needs to be done; each of us has individual strengths and limitations. The power of partnerships is to mobilize these strengths to
overcome the bottlenecks to reaching those most affected by malaria with the best quality treatment and prevention
available.
A major factor in the selection
of Zambia as one of the new PMI countries was the presence of strong partners supporting the commitment of the government of Zambia to scale up
malaria prevention and control nation-wide. Zambia’s NMCC, together with MACEPA and other Roll Back Malaria partners, have been pathfinders in
important areas such as strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems and improving program planning. We welcome MACEPA’s plans to take the
tools and methods currently being developed and tested in Zambia to an additional set of countries in the region as part of its Learning Community —this will undoubtedly provide other
opportunities for close collaboration between PMI and MACEPA that will contribute to efforts to tackle malaria throughout the region.
PMI is committed to supporting
national malaria control programs in the region to benefit from the sort of best practices which MACEPA and Zambia's NMCC are documenting and making
available for others. It is through the collective effort, wisdom, and momentum generated by strategic partnerships at all levels that we will
successfully turn the tides on this devastating disease. |
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Building bridges of awareness and support |
Photo: PATH (Meg DeRonghe)
Participants in a malaria advocacy meeting for Zambia's Paramount Chiefs in
May. |
Zambia is working from many angles to increase public awareness of and support for the
national effort to reduce malaria sickness and deaths. While distributing key malaria interventions is central to any malaria control effort,
ensuring that individuals actually use the interventions appropriately is essential to successfully reducing disease burden. Over the past few
months, a team of Roll Back Malaria partners has supported the NMCC staff to actively target key stakeholders with the aim of harnessing their
visibility and strategic linkages, engaging them as role models and advocates for malaria prevention.
Just prior to Africa Malaria Day on April 25, the NMCC hosted a three-day training of 20 Zambian print, radio, and television
journalists. The agenda provided members of the media with current information on the malaria situation in the country, and helped them understand
the goals and progress related to the National Malaria Strategic Plan. The group was then taken into the field where they could see malaria prevention in action
first hand, develop story lines, and interview community members. This resulted in a great deal of coverage of malaria control in the national media,
including a 12-page Africa Malaria Day supplement in a national newspaper, the Zambia Post.
The following month, the leadership of the NMCC hosted the House of Paramount Chiefs for a daylong seminar on national malaria
control activities and how the traditional leaders can help Zambia successfully roll back malaria. Without exception, the Chiefs enthusiastically
embraced their role as malaria “ambassadors” to their tribes and agreed to encourage uptake of the interventions and model good malaria
control behavior in their communities.
And just so no one felt left out, during the last week of June, there was a comprehensive malaria advocacy training for
community radio announcers. More than 80 percent of Zambia’s 12 million people regularly listen to the radio, and it is seen as an important
mechanism for providing health information. In addition to learning about malaria and its prevention, participants were trained in developing malaria
spots and features and had the chance to meet with the corresponding health official for their location to ensure that the timing and content of their
messages about malaria prevention and treatment were coordinated. |
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