MEASURE Evaluation Works to Transform Malaria Surveillance
April 24, 2018
MEASURE Evaluation
All countries can accelerate reduction in malaria cases and deaths through the data contained in routine health information systems (RHIS). That’s the thesis of work MEASURE Evaluation, led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is conducting in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa, alongside the countries’ National Malaria Control Programs (NMCP) to foster country ownership and local leadership.
RHIS is an important tool to monitor progress toward universal access to malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment for men, women and children, and to accelerate efforts toward elimination, says malaria expert Yazoumé Yé. Even if data quality needs improvement, he says, that work can be done alongside using RHIS for surveillance. RHIS can collect the number of presumed malaria cases, the number of confirmed cases and the number of deaths due to malaria. That information—if properly analyzed and used—will go a long way to understanding the disease trend within the population, designing appropriate responses to the need, targeting of programs and development of appropriate policies toward disease control and eventual elimination.
In observance of World Malaria Day, April 25, 2018, MEASURE Evaluation offers this visualization of what RHIS can accomplish for malaria surveillance.
For more information on MEASURE Evaluation’s work on malaria, visit the MEASURE Evaluation website.