Equatorial Guinea Malaria Control Initiative (EGMCI) (2006-2011)
Malaria is the principal cause of morbidity and mortality in Equatorial Guinea, accounting for 31.5% of morbidity and 37.3% of mortality according to Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MoHSW) statistics.
Drawing on the success of the Bioko Island Malaria Project (BIMCP), a key part of the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP), MCDI worked with the EG Country Coordination Mechanism (CCM) to submit a proposal to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria to expand malaria control to the EG mainland. The proposal for the project, Equatorial Guinea Malaria Control Initiative (EGMCI), requested $26 million over a five year period. The Global Fund approved the application, and Phase One implementation began in late 2006. The CCM chose MCDI to be the prime recipient. Phase 1 of EGMCI was approved for a two-year period (October 2006 to October 2008) for a total of $13 million. Under EGMCI, MCDI and its partners are expanding malaria-control interventions to the mainland comparable to those introduced by the BIMCP.
The goal of EGMCI is to significantly reduce morbidity and mortality due to malaria on both the mainland and Bioko Island, particularly among vulnerable groups. The target groups of the project are the same as those under BIMCP: children under 5 and pregnant mothers. MCDI figures the total number of EGMCI benficiaries by this project to be approximately 600,000 people. The objectives are to:
- Expand IRS spraying to cover both insular and continental regions. In 2007, spraying began in one of the four mainland provinces and was scaled up to a second province in early 2008 (covering approximately 62% of the population).
- Expand access and encourage usage of long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets (LLINs) beginning in 1 mainland province in 2007 and expanding to another in 2008
- Expand the use of intermittant preventative therapy (IPT) among pregnant women
- Improve case management of both uncomplicated and severe malaria by using improved treatment protocols on the use of ACTs
- Strengthen MoHSW capacity to plan, conduct, monitor, and evaluate malaria-control activities
- Improve the diagnostic capacity of MoH laboratories and facilitate the introduction of RDTs at lower-level facilities
Service-delivery areas (SDAs) for bullet 1 include vector control and related mass media- and community-based BBC (behavioral change communication) strategies, expanding the supportive environment to include the Malaria Task Force and MoH, and integration of the EGMCI activities into the Government's National Malaria Control Plan. The SDAs for bullet 2 include distribution and usage of LLINs and implementation of related mass media- and community-based BCC strategies and coordination with the Red Cross and other ITN suppliers. The SDAs for bullet 3 include the prevention of malaria in pregnant women via the introduction of IPT. This act is supported by community-based BCC and is done in coordination with maternal- and reproductive-health initiatives, including ones financed by UNICEF. The SDAs for bullet 4 include the introduction of an improved scheme of case detection and effective ACT-based anti-malarial treatment. MCDI carried these interventions out in an integrated approach that is consistent with IMCI guidelines and is supported by community-based BCC.
