Inform Asia: USAID’s Health Research Program Associate Award 2: Year 4, Semiannual Report

The program's primary objective is to support the elimination of malaria in the region. In the second quarter of Year 4, significant progress was made in achieving the program's intermediate results. IR 1, Strengthened malaria surveillance systems in Thailand and Lao PDR, involved the implementation of a workflow for the 1-3-7 strategy in Vientiane Province. This strategy aims to detect and respond to malaria cases within a 1-day window, with a 3-day treatment initiation, and a 7-day follow-up. The workflow was successfully implemented, and a foci reversion cohort analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival curve were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy. IR 2, Conducted research activities to evaluate strategies and tools for implementation and scale-up for malaria elimination, involved the development of a study design update for predictors of foci elimination. The study aims to identify factors that contribute to the elimination of malaria foci and to develop strategies for scaling up effective interventions. IR 3, Strengthened capacity of national malaria programs to generate, analyze, and use SI, involved the development of a monitoring and evaluation framework to track progress towards malaria elimination. The framework includes indicators such as the percentage of reported malaria cases with complete information, the percentage of individuals who report that they generated, analyzed, or used strategic information in their work, and the percentage of malaria foci that were investigated and managed according to the malaria elimination protocol. Implementation challenges were also identified during the second quarter of Year 4. These challenges included equipment costs for irrigation techniques, which faced implementation barriers, and the need for further training on mechanical land preparation for women-headed households. The program's management and administrative issues were also addressed during the second quarter of Year 4. The Associate Award 2 pipeline was reviewed, and staffing and management issues were discussed. The program's staff and management team worked together to address these issues and ensure the continued success of the program. Planned activities for the next quarter, including upcoming events and travel, were also outlined in the semiannual report. These activities included a joint monitoring and supervision mission report, a study design update, and a monitoring, evaluation, and learning indicator report. The program's progress towards achieving its results was also tracked and reported. The summary of progress towards achieving results achieved as of Q2, Y4, was provided in Table 1. The status report as of the end of Q2 of action items following the Q1 CMPE and Inform Asia consultative meeting was also provided in Table 2. The program's financial report as of March 31, 2019, was also provided in Annex 9. The report included a summary of the program's expenses and a breakdown of the costs associated with each activity. Overall, the USAID's Health Research Program, Associate Award 2, made significant progress towards achieving its intermediate results during the second quarter of Year 4. The program's staff and management team worked together to address implementation challenges and ensure the continued success of the program.