Cost Analysis Series 5: School Net Program – Round 5 (SNP5) in Tanzania

To date, five rounds of the SNP program have been conducted. The program was developed in 2013 as an additional "keep-up" distribution strategy to sustain ITN coverage levels in Tanzania. The first round of SNP (SNP1) was launched in the three southern regions of Tanzania (Lindi, Mtwara, and Ruvuma). During SNP1, 437,930 ITNs were distributed directly to school pupils in selected primary and secondary school classes. A second pilot round, SNP2 distributed a total of 489,099 ITNs (464,893 to students and 24,206 to teachers) in Lindi, Mtwara, and Ruvuma. The first two rounds of the school net program focused on local government-level engagement and required extensive resources at the local government levels to conduct quantifications and supervise ITNs issuing at the schools. The PMI VectorWorks project led implementation of the third round of SNP (SNP3) to further improve the SNP model to be sustainable and scalable at the national level. Like the first two rounds of SNP, SNP3 required extensive involvement from local government-level officials to conduct quantifications; assist with transport, re-bundling, and storage of ITNs; and supervise net distributions. However, regional and national level teams also assisted with data validation and higher-level supervision. After SNP3, a costing exercise was conducted to obtain the costs of the SNP3 program to international donors and estimate the level of support provided by the Tanzanian government. The costing exercise demonstrated that nets were delivered at an economic cost of $4.01 per net (inflated to 2017 USD) to international donors (this does not include the cost of the nets, themselves), and an economic cost of $1.82 per net to the Tanzanian government. The economic cost of the nets purchased for SNP3 was $3.37 per net. During SNP4, the focus shifted from local government-level engagement to engagement at the higher levels. PMI VectorWorks worked closely with the central government and national level representation to develop new tools. Data collection and reporting within the central government was strengthened by utilizing existing infrastructure such as the Basic Education Management Information System (BEMIS). The BEMIS system resulted in decreased reliance on local government-level officials to conduct activities such as student quantification and extensive data validation. The BEMIS system also expedited the data entry and reporting process compared to previous years. During the fifth round of SNP (SNP5), programming focused on sustainability by building capacities to national, regional, and district level teams through trainer of trainers (TOTs) trainings and high-level advocacy to manage the program at the local government level. The expectation was that, with the changes in program operations, the costs incurred by the government at the local levels would be reduced. The fifth round of the school net program (SNP5) was able to deliver 3,041,139 ITNs to schools in 14 regions at an economic cost of USD $3.63 per net distributed in 2017. Of these costs, approximately USD $1.57 was for distribution and the remainder related to the cost of the net itself. These costs, as well as the cost per treated net year (TNY) and cost per person year of protection (PYP) provided, were substantially lower than those paid for the third round of Tanzania's School Net Program (SNP3) (USD $5.83 per net, for distribution alone) when inflated to 2017 USD. This is largely due to cost-cutting measures introduced at the national and local levels. International donors invested heavily in SNP5, distributing nets at an economic cost (excluding the cost of the net) of USD $1.31 per net in addition to fully funding ITN procurement, which translates into an estimated economic cost per PYP of USD $0.56.