Integrating seasonal malaria prevention chemo into the community health system

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Extract from the article: The actors involved in the implementation of community-based interventions took part from 12 to 13 December 2023, in Lomé, in a co-creation workshop for the project to implement seasonal malaria prevention chemo (SPC) in the community health system i

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The actors involved in the implementation of community-based interventions took part from 12 to 13 December 2023, in Lomé, in a co-creation workshop for the project to implement seasonal malaria prevention chemo (SPC) in the community health system in Togo. The objective of the meeting, funded by the Malaria Consortium, is to collectively design the content of the pilot intervention to implement the SPC in the community health system. The work was opened by Dr Fantche Awokou, Country Technical Coordinator.  

Togo has been implementing seasonal malaria prevention chemo (SPC) since 2013 following the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO). Following the recent WHO guidelines which emphasise the importance of adapting SPC services to specific national contexts and the inclusion of SPC within existing service systems which has been prioritised (World Health Organization 2022; U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative 2022), an exploratory qualitative study was conducted by Malaria Consortium in 2022.

The actors involved in the implementation of community-based interventions took part from 12 to 13 December 2023, in Lomé, in a co-creation workshop for the project to implement seasonal malaria prevention chemo (SPC) in the community health system in Togo. The objective of the meeting, funded by the Malaria Consortium, is to collectively design the content of the pilot intervention to implement the SPC in the community health system. The work was opened by Dr Fantche Awokou, Country Technical Coordinator.

.Dr Fantche Awokou, Country Technical Coordinator, « National literature does not include seasonal malaria chemo prevention in the Community Health Worker Specification. So we want to bring thoughts and ideas to identify the best strategy to integrate seasonal malaria prevention chemo into our country’s community health system. When this intervention is integrated into the ASC activity package, it will reduce many costs.  This integration will also help people take ownership of their health problem.  Our people are quick to reach out to health facilities for curative and preventive care. »

Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SPC) is a method of malaria prevention in children under five years of age. It consists of intermittent administration of comprehensive malaria treatment protocols during malaria season to prevent malaria infection by maintaining therapeutic blood levels during the period of highest risk of transmission. CPS is performed using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) and amodiaquine (AQ) administered to children 3 to 59 months of age at one-month intervals from the beginning of the transmission season.

The workshop was coupled with the celebration of 20 years of Malaria Consortium. She saw the presence of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Health Dr Kokou Wotobé. The country director of the Malaria Consortium, Dr Hortense Me, welcomed the actions of the Malaria Consortium to reduce malaria through a seasonal chemo-prevention system recommended by the WHO.

William O.