Malaria Programme

The Malaria Control Program was officially introduced in the Church Health Institutions (CHIs) with support from the Global Fund in 2003. The program works in collaboration with the Ministry of Health’s National Malaria Control Centre (NMCC). The program supports CHAZ member CHIs in the provision of technical, logistical and financial support.

The Malaria Control Program’s mandate is extended by the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health to include the 22 districts1 in the program. CHAZ’s supports in these districts includes, but not limited to:-

Provision of ACTs and RDTs

Training of Community Health workers & Technical Support Program support and implementation at community level Activities implemented In order to achieve its objectives, the malaria program undertakes the following activities:- Prompt malarial treatment Malaria Prevention Malaria awareness and best practices activities: Conduct Visual media(drama) activities to highlight key malaria messages to target population Community leaders sensitization meetings to highlight key roles of community leaders in malaria control Inter-village quizzes to stimulate community dialogue and support malaria programme Inter-school quizzes and debates to disseminate key messages to school-going children Support to targeted civil society organizations’ sensitization activities Production and distribution of IEC materials( Flyers & Posters) for distribution to districts and CHIs Production of Radio jingles on malaria Commemoration of the World/SADC Malaria day
The Malaria Control Program has three main objectives, namely:- Increase prompt and effective treatment and diagnosis of Malaria according to the current drug policy within 24 hours of onset of symptom Increase prevention of malaria with Insecticide treated Nets ( ITNs) through mass distribution to obtain 100% coverage of 3 ITNs per household Increase effective awareness and best practices among citizens to prevent and manage malaria Achievement Prompt malarial treatment: CHAZ is involved in prompt and effective treatment and diagnosis of Malaria according to the Zambia drug policy within 24 hours of onset of symptoms.

In order to do this, CHAZ has successfully undertaken the following activities:-
Health workers training: training of health workers is aimed at enhancing the skills of health workers in malaria diagnosis and treatment. 910 health workers were trained in various CHAZ institutions. As a consequence 1, 309,370 cases of malaria have been diagnosed and treated.

Community training: CHAZ undertakes three training in 22 districts. These trainings are aimed at strengthening the health system at community level. Thus: Training of Community Health workers: The community members are trained in most of the disease components for 8 weeks. These community members graduate and become community health workers who work hand in hand with the health workers. To date CHAZ has trained 302 community health workers. Home Management of Malaria: This is a five days training for trained community health workers. It is aimed at building the capacity of Community Health Workers before supplying them with RDTs and ACTs. It equips community health workers with the skill to diagnose and treat confirmed cases of malaria in the within the community.1, 016 community health workers have been trained in Home management of Malaria. As a result 47,596 Malaria cases were diagnosed and treated by the trained community health workers within the community. Training of Community Health workers in Community Case management (c-IMCI): this training empowers the community health workers to diagnose common childhood illnesses such as Pneumonia; Malaria; Diarrhoea; Cough; Malnutrition and HIV/AIDS 302 Community health workers have been trained. 60 trainers have also been trained.

Procurement of RDTs: RDTs are an important tool to enable community health workers to diagnose and treat malaria in the community. Without RDTs, CHWs cannot diagnose and/or treat malaria. They also enable health workers to confirm malaria cases. In the year, CHAZ distributed 1,021,265 RDTs to health facilities in 22 districts while 49,027 were distributed directly to the community health workers. As a consequence, 483,667 (40%) of all suspected malaria cases were confirmed, while 47,596 cases were diagnosed and treated by the community health workers.

Supply ACTs to health facilities: CHAZ is mandated by Government through the Ministry of Health to supply ACTs and RDTs to all health facilities in 22 districts using a pull system. ACTs also directly contribute to health facility and community level case management performance indicators. As a result, 1,356,966 cases of malaria were treated in the year using ACTs.
Malaria Prevention: CHAZ is undertakes malaria prevention activities in the CHAZ institutions and 22 districts of Zambia. 333,200 Insecticides Treated Mosquito Nets have been procured and distributed to the beneficiaries