International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies
Background:
The 2022 World Malaria Report indicates that malaria-endemic countries demonstrated great efforts and resilience to maintain services to prevent, detect and treat malaria during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 171 million insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) were planned for distribution in 2021; 70 million of these ITNs were carried over from 2020. In total, 128 million (75%) ITNs were distributed in 2021.
Despite these efforts, progress against malaria remains uneven globally. According to the 2022 World Malaria Report, there were an estimated 247 million malaria cases in 2021 in 84 malaria endemic countries, an increase from 245 million in 2020, with most of this increase coming from countries in the WHO African Region. Malaria case incidence (i.e. cases per 1000 population at risk) reduced from 82 in 2000 to 57 in 2019, before increasing to 59 in 2020. There was no change in case incidence between 2020 and 2021. The increase in 2020 was associated with disruption to services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the report, more than 600 000 people still die of malaria every year – most of them children. The report also shows that malaria-affected countries continue to face broader challenges that affect their efforts to prevent malaria, including long-running humanitarian crises, limited donor funding, and the potential effect of climate change on the spread of the disease.
In terms of prevention, the 2022 World Malaria Report highlights that in sub-Saharan Africa, where most ITNs are distributed, about 590 million ITNs were delivered to communities in the period 2019–2021. However, in 2021, the estimated percentage of the population with access to an ITN within their household and the percentage of the population sleeping under an ITN was 54% and 47%, respectively, owing to several factors.
Coverage gaps are an important contributor to non-achievement of the WHO Global Technical Strategy (GTS) targets, particularly in hard-to-reach, conflict-affected and marginalized communities. While expanded access to WHO-recommended malaria control interventions has played a critical role in reducing the global burden of the disease since 2000, a large proportion of the population at risk of malaria – particularly in the WHO Africa region – continues to lack access to prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
The Alliance for Malaria Prevention is a workstream within the RBM Partnership to End Malaria and is an integral part of RBM’s Country and Regional Support Partner Committee (CRSPC). AMP is a global partnership of more than 40 organizations, including government, private sector, faith-based and humanitarian organizations. Housed and chaired by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), AMP is focused on three main activities: (1) coordination of partners involved in ITN campaign and continuous distribution activities; (2) development of operational guidance for planning and implementation of ITN distribution; and (3) supporting national malaria programmes and partners to identify, address and document operational successes and challenges to meeting the WHO GTS targets for high coverage and use of ITNs.
The AMP Net Mapping Project surveys every WHO pre-qualified ITN manufacturer each quarter and quantifies the number of nets that have been shipped to each country worldwide. The project maintains a database of net shipments by country from 2004 to the present and provides a solid reference point for further calculations on progress toward universal coverage, deterioration, and the need for new nets. The project also tracks shipments by donor and produces a quarterly report that is distributed to a wide array of malaria partners. The data have been referenced in several publications (e.g. WHO World Malaria Report) and provide an accurate reference to the number of nets shipped to each country.
The consultancy will allow the time and effort to organize the quarterly requests, collect, analyse and distribute the data, maintain and improve the database, initiate and develop maps that can enhance the relevance of the data, and meet with net manufacturers as necessary to resolve issues and to ensure strict confidentiality.
The AMP’s Net Mapping Project’s principal aim is to track ITN quantities and shipments to quantify the ITN inputs at country level across different distribution channels.
The AMP Net Mapping Project includes these key activities:
- Continue the collection of ITN shipment data from all net manufacturers and organize and distribute the quarterly reports for ITNs shipped and the cumulative total of nets shipped by year.
- Regularly improve and update the Net Mapping Project database.
- Work to collect in-country ITN distribution data from national malaria programmes and populate the country maps with shipped and distribution data as available.
- Engage with Studio 91 to enable continuation of services in hosting, maintaining and providing support to the website developed.
- Work with the Officer, Information Systems and M&E for the ITN Campaign Efficiency Project on the integration of data between the Net Mapping Project and the ITN and continuous distribution (CD) trackers (as applicable).
How to apply
To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter (including your daily rate) to [email protected] by Tuesday 28th of February COB. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.