Sustainability Plan for the Program for the Advancement of Malaria Outcomes

PAMO's three objectives are to support proven malaria interventions in alignment with the National Malaria Strategic Plan (NMSP) 2011-2016 and the follow-on plan of the Ministry of Health (MOH), to strengthen management capacity of provincial and district MOH personnel to provide supervision and mentoring to improve delivery of proven interventions, and to strengthen provincial and district health management information system (HMIS) to improve data reporting, analysis, and use for decision-making. PAMO's programmatic focus is on long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs), malaria in pregnancy (MIP), case management, social and behavior change (SBC), surveillance, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and overall planning and management of malaria control and elimination efforts. The geographic focus is on four high burden provinces in northeast Zambia, namely Eastern, Luapula, Muchinga, and Northern. PAMO maintains effective partnerships with the National Malaria Control Center (NMCC), provincial health offices (PHOs), district health offices (DHOs), health facilities, communities, civil society organizations (CSOs), and others to implement and scale up internationally accepted strategies to fight malaria. To achieve the three PAMO objectives, PATH has assembled a consortium of expert organizations, including Jhpiego, the Broad Reach Institute for Training & Education (BRITE), the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHU-CCP), and the Zambia Center for Applied Research and Development (ZCAHRD). The consortium leverages the strengths and capacity of each organization through a highly integrated team with staff embedded in each province to support quality improvements in the management and delivery of key malaria interventions. The overall purpose of this document is to describe PAMO's sustainability plan, which is strategically aligned with Zambia's current NMSP, the relevant PMI Zambia Malaria Operational Plan, and the project contract. Lessons learned from implementation of this plan will be used to revise and update the document on an annual basis. Considerable progress has been made in reducing malaria through a mix of vector control and disease treatment interventions largely funded by international donors. To sustain this progress and achieve ambitious global goals, Zambia will need to further ramp up its strategies and build capacity of MOH personnel to effectively manage malaria control and elimination programs. PAMO will support a range of innovative capacity building activities to strengthen the human resource capacity for malaria control and elimination in the targeted provinces. For Zambia to eventually reach and sustain malaria elimination, the country will require strong national program leadership and availability of a range of trained staff in the locations where they are most needed. Retention of that capacity will be promoted if the cohort of emerging leaders in management and implementation is strengthened. Enhancing capacity and local ownership is at the core of PAMO's approach, with a focus on developing the capacity of institutions and key health staff involved in malaria control and elimination. The PAMO Sustainability Plan is one of six key project deliverables, and it is designed to promote the takeover of project functions by the Ministry of Health (MOH) provincial, district, and facility staff as soon as capacity is developed. As funding runs out, an assessment will need to be made regarding the specific activities that can and should be continued, how many employees or volunteers will be needed, and how large (scale) the program will be. PAMO will promote a holistic, sustainable approach to malaria control and elimination, requiring the concerted effort and commitment of decision-makers at multiple levels and sectors to pursue informed, evidence-based policymaking.