Inform'Asia:'USAID’s'Health'Research'program'

The program is managed by RTI International, with the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre serving as the major counterpart organization. The geographic coverage of the program includes Thailand and Lao PDR. The program's primary objective is to improve health outcomes in Thailand and Lao PDR through evidence-based health research results. The activities carried out under AA 2 will generate evidence and contribute to increased local research capacity within the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) to enable them to plan, budget, implement, and monitor data-driven, technically sound, and cost-effective malaria programming. The program has five objectives for FY 2016: conducting an assessment of malaria surveillance and operational research needs to inform malaria programming in Thailand and Lao PDR, providing technical support for the implementation of anti-malarial drug therapeutic efficacy studies in Thailand, conducting an assessment of malaria elimination models in Thailand, providing technical assistance to the Lao PDR NMCP to strengthen malaria surveillance systems, and generating and disseminating strategic information and operational results. The Inform Asia Center of Excellence serves as a repository of information related to malaria surveillance and operational research in Thailand and Lao PDR. It will function as a coordinating body for USAID-supported activities in these two countries, consolidating information as part of assessment activities supported under this agreement and sharing it through the COE's website and other relevant dissemination channels. In Q1, the program began managing long-term consultant Tess Prombuth, who has been working on the therapeutic efficacy studies for Thailand since May 2014. The Inform Asia team and Ms. Prombuth met with Dr. Niphon and BVBD staff to introduce Inform Asia and discuss collaboration over the next few years. Inputs from that meeting were taken into account to develop the first year work plan, submitted to USAID on November 1, 2015. Over the course of Q1, Ms. Prombuth regularly met with the BVBD and other relevant stakeholders to discuss malaria programming and operational research. The program has made progress in several areas, including the development of the first year work plan, the introduction of Inform Asia to the BVBD, and the regular meetings with stakeholders to discuss malaria programming and operational research. However, some activities are planned for Q2, including supporting three BVBD staff to attend training in Atlanta, Georgia, and completing a data systems requirement assessment and developing a costed action plan. The program's monitoring and evaluation plan includes several indicators, including the percentage of people scoring 80% or above on training post-tests, the number of people trained, and the number of information products targeting researchers, decision makers, and policy makers designed and launched through Inform Asia's COE. The program has achieved 0% of the annual performance target for Q1 for some indicators, but is on target for others.