World Malaria Day: ICF supports evidence for streamlining Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention implementation.

The web meeting gathered participants remotely from different African countries who were officials and personalities in the health sector involved in the SMC programme.

The objective of the meeting was to constructively discuss the impact of the SMC intervention in reducing malaria burden in Cameroon. Participants during the Webinar, highlighted the successes, challenges, lesson learned and contributions of community healthcare workers in the SMC implementation.

The webinar was attended by Prof Jean Louis Abdourahim Ndiaye OPT-SMC, University Check Anta Diop/Senegal and Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention lead for the 13 countries implementing the program alongside other officials like Dr. Dorothy Achu, Team Lead for Tropical and Vector Borne Diseases for the WHO African Region, Dr. Judith Hedje, PMI/CDC Cameroon Resident Advisor, Dr. Kidwang Jean Pierre Regional Coordinator of NMCP Technical Group in the Far North region and Dr. Djele Sali who is the Regional Coordinator of NMCP Technical Group in the North region.

 In her introductory statement, Carolynn Poulsen, the Director of Global Health Security Growth said they remain committed to working hand in glove with their partners by deploying their resources and expertise in helping them to realize their visions. 

After her introductory remark that laid emphasis on their engagements in the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention program, Prof Jean Louis Abdourahim Ndiaye gave an overview of the state of SMC implementation across Africa highlighting the successes, challenges, lessons learned and how countries are using evidence to adapt and optimized the impact as well as interventions.

The 13 engaged countries in West and Central Africa involved in the SMC program are leading with different strategies with same central priorities to combat malaria and why not fulfil the desire of this year’s theme of world malaria day which is “Time to deliver zero malaria: innovate, invest and implement”.

Following facts presented by Prof. Jean Louis, 45million children were covered in SMC program implementing countries in 2021.

It is important to note that SMC is a preventive malaria program which involves administering monthly doses of antimalarial drugs to children aged 3-59 months during the peak malaria transmission season. The program was introduced in Cameroon in 2016 and so far benefited massively children in the North and Far North Regions.

In his presentation, Prof. Jean Louis said the objectives of Optimizing Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention is to strengthen the capacities of National Malaria Control Programs in implementing SMC, monitor delivery uptake and effectiveness, interpret and make use of malaria surveillance data alongside other objectives.

To him, the program promotes intercountry collaboration, cooperation, sharing of information and expertise.

In a panel session moderated by Dr. Diboulo Eric and Dr Yazoume Ye, Dr. Dorothy Achu explained new recommendations of the World Health Organisation in the SMC implementing countries stating their diverse flexibility as an advantage.

“I am sure we have read the new recommendations which open up to more flexibility for countries on three grounds. First of all, we have flexibility in terms of the number of cycles that should be aligned to the epidemiology of each country and their climatic realities. 

The second is the flexibility on age groups which also targets other groups that are more prone. The third one is geographical eligibility. This refers to how much we can extend boundaries because initially it was thought that this recommendation is for Sahel countries that have very long transmission seasons” said Dr. Dorothy.

 To her, the implementation of flexibilities will depend on data from different countries and different areas taking into consideration transmission characteristics.

On her part, Dr Judith Hedje, PMI/CDC Cameroon Resident Advisor, explained how the US President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) has supported the activities of the National Malaria Control Program in the implementation of SMC program in Cameroon.

“PMI started in Cameroon at the end of 2017 and when we arrived in Cameroon to help support the implementation of activities of the NMCP, SMC had already started. 

When we joined, they were about 1. 2 million children at that time and we had set a budget aside for that specific activity and including buying commodities and training actors in implementation and communication. So, the big chunk of PMI budget went to SMC,” Dr Judith said.

 The use of data for monitoring and evaluation of performance was highlighted as a key recommendation during the more than 90 minutes webinar during which expert information was shared and useful recommendations made, to ensure a better implementation of the SMC program in Cameroon and other countries.

By A. Adang Charles*