Zimbabwe Assistance Program in Malaria: Quarterly Report January-March 2017

ZAPIM attended and contributed to various programmatic and technical meetings, including routine national malaria review meetings, national malaria control strategic plan development, strategic communications development, ZAPIM/NMCP meetings, and the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) partner meetings. During these meetings, program achievements and challenges were shared and discussed. The Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS) results were also discussed, and it was agreed that further analysis was needed on net usage. The final MIS report is scheduled to be finalized by the end of April, 2017. Other programmatic achievements during this period of performance include the successful implementation of various activities. A total of 299 out of a target of 360 health workers were trained in case management (CM). Of these, 153 were from Mashonaland Central, 117 from Mashonaland East, and 29 from Matabeleland North. The target for Matabeleland North was 90 health workers. The remaining target is scheduled to be trained in April 2017. ZAPIM also provided support to CM trainings in the Global Fund funded provinces by providing manuals for 300 participants and manuals for 30 facilitators. Over the second quarter, a total of 440 Village Health Workers (VHWs) out of a target of 440 were trained in community case management (CCM). This brings the cumulative total to 591 out of a target of 600 VHWs trained with the project's support in Year 2. The malaria treatment chart was successfully revised and 10,000 copies were printed. Distribution of the chart to all the provinces is scheduled for the beginning of April 2017. ZAPIM held a preliminary meeting with PMI and Chemonics' Global Health Supply Chain Project to discuss the best approach to assess the discrepancy between malaria cases and commodities consumption data. This was followed up with a meeting with the NMCP Director. A detailed study protocol will be developed in April 2017. One death audit meeting was attended by a total of 30 health workers from Binga and Hwange, where four deaths that occurred in the province in 2016 were discussed, and ways to improve care for severe malaria with the aim of preventing or reducing future malaria-related deaths. Post-training follow-ups to 19 VHWs in Goromonzi district (Mashonaland East) were conducted. The main objectives were to assess the performance of the VHWs in CCM, the availability of malaria commodities and other supportive medicines at the VHW household level, and documentation of cases by the VHWs. The meeting also served to orient health workers to the VHW supportive supervision process. A total of 15,750 long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) were delivered to the 59 health facilities in Mazowe, Mbire, Mt Darwin, Hurungwe, and Makonde. By the end of the quarter, a total of 7,858 LLINS were distributed to households in 69 wards using various channels such as antenatal care services.