Project evaluation summary (PES) -- : malaria control

EVALUATION COVERS THE PERIOD 7/21/75 - 12/28/79, AND IS BASED UPON COMPREHENSIVE REPORTS PREPARED BY PREVIOUS EXTERNAL EVALUATION TEAMS. THE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT WAS TO LOWER THE NATION-WIDE MALARIA CASE RATES TO 500 MALARIA CASES PER MILLION POPULATION OR AN ANNUAL PARASITE INCIDENCE (API) OF O.5. WHILE SPECIFIC DISTRICTS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH THIS TARGET, THE NATIONAL API WILL EXCEED 1.0. THE SHORTFALL RESULTED FROM THE FOLLOWING FACTORS: (1) THE IMPACT OF INDIA"S MASSIVE MALARIA EPIDEMIC 1976-79; (2) INCREASING CASE RATES IN THE INTEGRATED HEALTH DISTRICTS; AND (3) INCREASING A ANNULARIS DDT RESISTANCE IN THE TERAI. USAID"S MALARIA CONTROL EFFORTS HAVE BEEN SUPPLEMENTED BY THOSE OF THE GON, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, UN DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, AND THE BRITISH OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION. IN GENERAL, THE GON HAS PROVIDED APPROPRIATE LEVELS OF SUPPORT TO ITS MALARIA CONTROL PROGRAM. USAID CONTRIBUTED ALL BUT RS 402,742 (APPROXIMATELY $38,000) OF THE ORIGINAL COMMITMENT OF $3.6 MILLION. THE SERVICES OF THE FULL-TIME USAID MALARIA ADVISOR WERE DISCONTINUED IN THE SPRING OF 1978 BECAUSE OF THE MISSION"S DETERMINATION THAT THE PROJECT COULD FUNCTION WITHOUT FULL-TIME AID TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. OVERALL, NOTEWORTHY PROGRESS WAS MADE IN CONTROLLING MALARIA. FOCAL OUTBREAKS HAVE OCCURED, BUT HAVE BEEN RAPIDLY AND SATISFACTORILY CONTAINED. ONE OF THE UNPLANNED EFFECTS HAS BEEN A RAPID INCREASE IN SETTLEMENT OF THE TERAI AREA. THIS, IN TURN, HAS RESULTED IN UNAUTHORIZED CUTTING OF FOREST LAND AND INCREASED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION. PROJECT EXPERIENCE DEMONSTRATED THAT DEVELOPMENT OF MALARIA CONTROL TECHNICAL METHODOLOGY IS FAR FROM COMPLETE IN ASIA. BOTH BASIC AND OPERATIONAL RESEARCH MUST BE GIVEN MORE EMPHASIS.