Fighting Malaria in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar

As part of malaria prevention and control programmes, RTI has undertaken a wide range of communication activities, working with local partners. In 2009, RTI started implementing a Malaria Communication Plan, leading a mass media malaria campaign in collaboration with the Zanzibar Malaria Control Programme (ZMCP) and the ministries of Education and Communication. Using radio, television, billboards, and placards, the campaign focused on anti-malarial preventive and curative measures. With local partner Mennonite Economic Development Associates, RTI also assisted the ZMCP in developing new modalities and channels for promoting and distributing LLINs in Zanzibar.

RTI is also working in Zanzibar to strengthen and expand the Zanzibar School Malaria Programme by providing teachers, education officials, and district health officers with information and skills to enable them to better educate students on malaria control and prevention techniques, as well as symptoms and treatments for the disease. Organised around teacher centers in each district, as of April 2012, 669 head teachers from primary and selected pre-primary and secondary schools from 95% of all schools were trained.

In collaboration with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and ZMCP, RTI helped develop the Malaria Epidemic Early Detection System (MEEDS). MEEDS is designed to detect the early stages of an epidemic, within 2 weeks of onset, by measuring weekly changes in frequency and incidence rates of new laboratory-diagnosed malaria cases at 52 health facilities in Zanzibar. A public-private partnership with Selcom Wireless facilitates data transmission from health facilities via SMS messages on cell phones and delivery of weekly updates to ZMCP and other Ministry of Health authorities.

Efforts to build local capacity for IRS activities have been ongoing in partnership with the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) in Mainland Tanzania and ZMCP in Zanzibar. More than 700 local spray operators have been trained on spraying technique, data collection, and compliance with safety measures. Staff from both the NMCP and ZMCP have also been trained in entomological and surveillance systems, and provide training to local community surveillance personnel to improve their knowledge of and skills on larval control.

Malaria

RTI International is a research institute dedicated to improving the human condition by turning knowledge into practice. Global staff of more than 2,800 provide research and technical services to governments and businesses in more than 40 countries in the areas of health and pharmaceuticals, education and training, surveys and statistics, advanced technology, international development, economic and social policy, energy and the environment, and laboratory testing and chemical analysis. RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute.