2011
In 2011, with the vision of supporting the increased involvement of NGOs in integrated, community-based malaria programming; promoting collaboration between NGOs and national and international partners; and addressing bottlenecks, barriers, and gaps in related programming, the Malaria Working Group refined its objectives for the next five years to include the following:
1. Increasing NGO community-based malaria program knowledge by sharing and disseminating lessons learned and SOTA information to improve and advance related community MCH standards, strategies and practices.
2. Promoting partnerships and collaboration at national, regional and global levels in order to improve effective community-based malaria programming.
3. Representing community health NGO perspectives, values and experiences in national, regional, and global policy forums related to malaria.
The Malaria Working Group also strives to continue to provide a forum where NGOs and other partners share lessons learned and disseminate state-of-the-art information related to malaria programming in order to improve the quality of their field-based programs. The Working Group was led by Eric Swedberg with Save the Children and supported by Shannon Downey with CORE Group. Mark Maire with World Vision ended his time as Co-Chair, so an additional position opened up to interested Working Group members.
Through the CORE Group Fall and Spring Meetings, the Malaria Working Group organized and hosted technical updates to increase knowledge and improve programming including on innovation and efficiencies in vector control and the role of NGOs; community-based malaria treatment and prevention experiences in Benin; and the state of antimalarial drug quality in developing countries. The Malaria Working Group continued to link with the Community Child Health Working Group in the promotion of community case management including sessions on the roll-out of RDTs to CHWs in Rwanda; piloting CCM in Liberia through a PMI Malaria Communities Program; and CCM updates and improvements on benchmarks and supply chain management, and with the SMRH and Nutrition Working Groups on MIP including an "Addressing Anemia Full Spectrum" integrated session. The Working Group also strengthened its links and partnership with the USAID flagship project—Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program (MCHIP) especially with regards to CCM, MIP and anemia program learning.
Global Advocacy
At the global level, Malaria Working Group Members continued to represent community-focused public health perspectives, values and experiences in national, regional and global policy forums including participating with the RBM Partnership. Historically, CORE Group has participated with the RBM Partnership and has worked to facilitate the recognition and use of community-focused approaches for malaria prevention and control. This year, CORE Group attended the 5th Meeting of the RMB Partnership Case Management Working Group and subsequently took on the role of Co-Focal Person for the Expanding Access to Effective Treatment Workstream, creating an important opportunity to further link and leverage CORE Group’s collaborative community case management efforts to those at the global level. The Malaria Working Group also continued to diffuse other products, technical guidance and program learning, including the work of the "Net Mapping Project."
2010
In 2010, with the vision of supporting existing national collaborative partnerships and promoting new partnerships in which NGOs can actively be engaged in national level policy formation and innovative programming to scale up malaria prevention and control, the Malaria Working Group focused on four key areas: 1) technical capacity building, 2) integration, 3) advocacy and 4) community case management (CCM). In order to reach this vision, the Working Group had two main objectives: 1) supporting national and regional level activities to disseminate state of the art information and promoting collaborative planning and 2) promotion of dialogue across public/private and NGO entities to ensure best practice and quality programming. The Malaria Working Group was led by Eric Swedberg with Save the Children and Mark Maire with World Vision and supported by Shannon Downey with CORE Group.
Through the CORE Group Fall and Spring Meetings, the Malaria Working Group organized and hosted several technical updates to increase knowledge and improve community-based MCH programming including progress and process to reaching universal net coverage, meeting the challenges of large scale population displacement in emergencies and the use of insecticide treated plastic sheeting, improved diagnostic practices through the use of RDTs by CHWs, and innovative approaches to improved net use. In addition to malaria specific technical activities, the Malaria Working Group also linked to the efforts of other working groups to increase knowledge around mobilizing community-based volunteer health educators through the Care Group Model and partnering with the SMRH and Nutrition Working Groups to increase knowledge not only for malaria in pregnancy, but also integrated approaches to addressing anemia and maternal and child mortality and morbidity. This included a meeting of partners and the forming of an Anemia Task Force. The Malaria Working Group also partnered with the Community Child Health Working Group in the promotion of the Community Case Management Essentials Guide, advocating for CCM implementation and scale up in countries, and increased knowledge around the use of mHealth and CCM.
Global Advocacy
At the global level, Malaria Working Group Members continued to represent community-focused public health perspectives, values and experiences in national, regional and global policy forums including participating with the RBM Partnership . Participation included representation on Northern NGO Delegation for the Board and within other RBM mechanisms. Working Group Members attended the 17th and 18th RBM Board Meetings and provided ongoing facilitation of NGO input into policy and program decisions and reporting back for improved linkages between policy and programs. The Malaria Working Group also linked to the "Net Mapping Project" and helped to diffuse other products, technical guidance and program learning.
2009
In 2009, the Malaria Working Group organized a series of technical updates through Elluminates and the CORE Group Fall and Spring Meetings to increase member and partner knowledge of community-based malaria programming advances, global directions and research. Topics included HIV/AIDS and malaria integration issues; quality assurance and supportive supervision in community case management; a collaborative approach to community-based prevention in Benin; and a review of insecticide-treated net use in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, Malaria Working Group Members helped to revise the 2009 Malaria Technical Reference Materials and other key policy and advocacy documents.
Global Advocacy
At the global level, Malaria Working Group Members participated with the RBM Partnership through the Board and within other RBM mechanisms, including the Alliance for Malaria Prevention (AMP), Malaria Advocacy Working Group (MAWG) and the Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group (MERG). In 2009, Working Group Members attended the 15th and 16th RBM Board Meetings and provided valuable civil society input into global decision-making and coordination of malaria advocacy.
Country Collaboration
At the country level, the Malaria Working Group contributed to two CORE Group coordinated National Malaria Coordination Workshops in Kampala, Uganda in partnership with the Malaria and Childhood Illness Secretariat (MACIS) and in Luanda, Angola in partnership with Consaúde, Lda. In partnership with PMI Malaria Communities Program, CORE Group facilitated these workshops to strengthen and coordinate the role of civil society with the respective National Malaria Control Programs. Each workshop drew over 170 participants that represented a wide range of civil society organizations, Ministry of Health, private sector, donor and academic malaria stakeholders.
In spring 2009, CORE Group’s work with the Voices for a Malaria-Free Future (Voices) project in Kenya and Mali ended. For three years, the Working Group has helped to support CORE Group’s country collaboration work with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs (JHU CCP) in these countries. CORE Group worked with two local NGO networks, KeNAAM in Kenya and Groupe Pivot Santé Population in Mali. In Kenya, key successes included an increase of malaria visibility in local and international media; increased access for CSOs to GFATM; increased access to ACTs; creation of powerful educational and advocacy tools and supported country malaria intervention coordination and facilitation, and in Mali, key successes included an increase in commitment and resources for malaria control; the dissemination of improved national malaria policies and a coordinated malaria strategic plan; an increase in visibility of malaria as an urgent issue; and an increase the number of celebrity and stakeholder advocates, known as ‘Champions’, who promoted the need for increased resource allocation for malaria.
2008
The Malaria Working Group hosted several technical updates on topics including: Strategies to improve access to artemisinin-based combination therapy for malaria; promoting use of insecticide-treated nets for malaria prevention; Save the Children's work in Mali on community-based distribution of ACTs, and Christian Children's Fund work in Senegal on a community-based malaria and tuberculosis control program.
Kenya Country Collaboration for Malaria Advocacy
The CORE Group malaria Secretariat, KeNAAM, developed a documentary that advocates for the deregulation of ACTs to increase accessibility at the community level, for the need for an independent budget for malaria, and for a reliable health management information system. The documentary highlights testimonies from the community and implementers on the success and challenges of malaria intervention progress in Kenya. The DVD was designed to expose gaps that need to be addressed by policy makers and is being disseminated to partners and stakeholders as an advocacy tool.
KeNAAM also conducted numerous additional advocacy efforts in order to engage policy makers and further break down policy barriers, including news articles, radio interviews, TV programs and letters to officials.