The Malaria Elimination Initiative (MEI) at the University of California, San Francisco Global Health Group is part of a group of partners that has been awarded a new contract by USAID to support the President’s Malaria Initiative’s Advancing the Progress of Malaria Service Delivery (APMSD) project in 28 malaria-affected countries. The project, funded at more than $160 million USD over five years, will be delivered by a consortium of core partners, led by Population Services International (PSI) and including JHPIEGO (formerly the Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics), Medical Care Development International (MCDI) and the MEI.
The project will focus on supporting national malaria control programs in USAID-supported malaria-endemic countries including 25 in Africa and three in Asia. The project interventions aim to improve quality of and access to malaria case management and malaria in pregnancy interventions. They will also improve quality of and access to other malaria drug-based approaches and provide support to pilot and/or scale-up newer malaria drug-based approaches. Global technical leadership, support for operational research and advances in program learning are priorities as well. In addition to the core team, private-sector partner Akros, the University of Oslo and the Medicines for Malaria Venture will support additional activities.
As a member of the consortium, the MEI will leverage its expertise, tools and skills to support President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) countries to accelerate progress in malaria services delivered to health facilities and communities. The MEI will provide technical assistance for surveillance, drug-based strategies and drug efficacy monitoring. The MEI will also play a leading role in the malaria community with sharing country experience and best practices.
Says Allison Phillips, MEI deputy director, “We are thrilled to be partnering with PMI and the other consortium members to advance malaria service delivery, which will help countries improve case management and reduce illnesses and deaths and accelerate progress towards malaria elimination.”
Globally, the world has made remarkable progress in controlling malaria, halving the burden of disease between 2000 and 2015, but progress is stalling. The World Health Organization’s most recent World Malaria Report highlights the current state of case management of children under five years and delivery of intermittent presumptive treatment for pregnant women as major concerns.
The PMI, led by USAID and implemented with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is the U.S. Government’s primary vehicle for assisting malaria-affected countries to scale up proven malaria control and elimination interventions.
The PMI Strategy for 2015–2020 accounts for much progress over the past decade and offers a strategy for new and emerging challenges. Malaria prevention and control remains a major U.S. foreign assistance objective, and PMI’s strategy fully aligns with the U.S. Government’s vision of ending preventable child and maternal deaths and protecting communities from infectious diseases. By working with PMI-supported countries and partners, the U.S. Government aims to further reduce malaria deaths and substantially decrease malaria morbidity, towards the long-term goal of elimination.
About MEI: The Malaria Elimination Initiative (MEI) of the Global Health Group at UCSF’s Institute for Global Health Sciences believes a malaria-free world is possible within a generation. As a forward-thinking partner to malaria-eliminating countries and regions, the MEI generates evidence, develops new tools and approaches, documents and disseminates elimination experiences and builds consensus to shrink the malaria map. With support from the MEI’s highly skilled team, countries around the world are actively working to eliminate malaria—a goal that nearly 30 countries will achieve by 2020. For more information about our impact, visit Shrinking the Malaria Map.