Quarter 3 Progress Report: PAMO Plus

The project supports implementation of malaria interventions in four high-burden provinces—Eastern, Luapula, Muchinga, and Northern—and provides technical support to the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) to strengthen the national malaria response. The project has five objectives, which are highlighted in this report. To improve the quality of malaria case management in health facilities, PAMO Plus focuses on strengthening malaria case management at the facility level. This is achieved through strengthening the skills of health workers to diagnose and treat malaria based on the national case management guidelines. During the third quarter, PAMO Plus trained malaria microscopists and piloted the Advanced Electronic Data System (EDS). Training malaria microscopists involved supporting the NMEP to conduct malaria microscopy competency assessments and refresher trainings. A total of 30 laboratory personnel from 15 districts in all four PAMO-supported provinces participated in the competence assessment and refresher training. Piloting the implementation of the Advanced EDS involved training NMEP staff and eight PAMO Plus staff in the use of the new system. These staff then worked with the Provincial Health Office (PHO) in Eastern Province to pilot the new tool in Nyimba and Mambwe districts. The pilot began with a training of 12 OTSS supervisors, after which OTSS rounds were conducted in eight health facilities. A total of 33 health care workers participated in the pilot, and OTSS supervisors and health care workers found the interface of the Advanced EDS to be user-friendly and faster than the previous version of the tool. PAMO Plus supports the NMEP to strengthen and expand access to malaria case management services at the community level. To achieve this, over the course of the year PAMO Plus is training and deploying community health workers (CHWs) as well as supporting the NMEP to conduct monitoring, mentoring, and motivational supervision to already trained CHWs. During the reporting period, PAMO Plus supported three key activities: (1) integrated community case management (iCCM) training of trainer workshops, (2) training and deployment of CHWs, and (3) monitoring, mentorship, and motivational visits to CHWs. iCCM training of trainers involved supporting the PHO to train 18 MOH staff in iCCM. Trainers from the NMEP and Southern and Central provinces led the training, and participants were comprised of malaria elimination officers, clinical care officers, district health information officers, lab technicians, pharmacists, and environmental health technicians from three districts. This training brings the total number of iCCM trainers to 32 in Luapula. Training and deployment of CHWs involved supporting the NMEP to train 363 CHWs in all four provinces excluding pre-elimination districts. This brings the cumulative number trained to 511, or 60% of this year's target. The remaining CHWs will be trained in the fourth quarter. Monitoring, mentorship, and motivational visits involved partnering with provincial and district health teams to monitor the quality of care among CHWs and provide continued feedback to them. This is essential for sustaining quality of care among CHWs and providing continued feedback to them. The project has faced challenges, including a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a slowdown in activity implementation. However, PAMO Plus plans to use the Advanced EDS during the next full round of OTSS, scheduled for November and December 2021. The project will continue to support the NMEP to strengthen the national malaria response and achieve its goal of eliminating malaria in local communities. PAMO Plus has made significant progress in achieving its objectives, including training and deploying CHWs, piloting the Advanced EDS, and supporting the NMEP to conduct monitoring, mentoring, and motivational supervision to already trained CHWs. The project will continue to work towards its goal of eliminating malaria in local communities and strengthening the national malaria response.