Thread by @UgandaMediaCent

According to the 2021 World Malaria Report, Uganda was the third and fifth highest contributor of global malaria cases and deaths respectively #MalariaUG

Malaria prevalence is highly heterogeneous in Uganda; ranging from 1% in southwest and central regions to 34% in the northeast Karamoja region #MalariaUG

For over two decades, the Karamoja region has registered the highest malaria incidence in Uganda ranging between 250 and 450 per 1000 people as compared to the national incidence of 30 per 1000 people #MalariaUG

Children under five years continue to contribute disproportionately to the high malaria incidence in Uganda #MalariaUG

The use of conventional and existing malaria control interventions such as use of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), indoor residual splaying (IRS) and case management is relatively low in the region #MalariaUG (1/2)

Due to social-economic and cultural factors including a large proportion of communities being nomadic pastoralists who live in small structures made of reeds and mud, called Manyattas, which makes the use of LLINs and IRS difficult (2/2) #MalariaUG

The Uganda Malaria Reduction and Elimination Strategic Plan 2021-2025 (UMRESP) recommended the evaluation of Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) as a possible complementary intervention to be used in Karamoja alongside existing tools.

The implementation study conducted by Malaria Consortium and NMCD aimed to generate evidence in support of this recommendation #MalariaUG

SMC is implemented through existing Ministry of Health structures. Village Health Teams (VHTs) were trained and equipped with necessary tools to administer SPAQ door-to-door to eligible children #MalariaUG

Over the period of implementation, the involvement and participation of the district health staff, district leadership, community leaders including Manyatta (homestead) leaders and leadership from NMCD played a key role in the success of the intervention #MalariaUG

There was a high level of participation from stakeholders and acceptability among the community members and beneficiaries. This differs from SMC campaigns in many other implementing countries where SMC is distributed by community volunteers #MalariaUG

SMC was successfully delivered according to schedule and at the anticipated scale, achieving high coverage. Results from the 2021 end-of-round coverage survey showed that on average 78% of eligible children received SPAQ in all five cycles of the SMC round #MalariaUG

No serious adverse events have been reported since the SMC programme began in May 2021. SMC has been found to be highly acceptable by stakeholders at all levels including policy makers, implementers, caregivers and children #MalariaUG

Results of the nRCT showed that children in intervention districts had a 92.2% lower risk of experiencing a confirmed malaria episode in the five-month follow-up versus those in the control district #MalariaUG

In the intervention areas, 90% of children never experienced a malaria episode, versus only 15% in the control area; 85% of children in the control developed at least one episode of malaria and 60% had at least two malaria episodes over the follow-up period #MalariaUG

The table below provides the overall performance on number of children reached with SPAQ and DP in July 2022 across the 8 districts, according to administrative data collected by VHTs #MalariaUG

Dr Anthony Nuwa Senior Country Technical Coordinator, Malaria Consortium Uganda: Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) has delivered effective protection against malaria in children under five years in Karamoja. #MalariaUG

Nuwa: It is a feasible, highly accepted and impactful malaria intervention for the Karamoja subregion. We believe SMC offers an alternative intervention in Uganda’s journey towards malaria elimination #MalariaUG

David Salandini Odong - Project Manager SMC Malaria Consortium Uganda: The invaluable contribution of all the stakeholders involved especially the @MinofHealthUG, the district leadership, the health workers #MalariaUG (1/2)

Odong: And most importantly the village health teams have contributed to better health for vulnerable children in Karamoja #MalariaUG (2/2)

Odong: We should take advantage of this intervention and scale up SMC in all the target age groups and new geographies if we are to achieve a malaria-free Uganda #MalariaUG

Dr Musa Odongo – Malaria Technical specialist SMC Malaria Consortium: Over 90% of targeted children were protected in intervention districts. In the intervention area 90% never experienced a malaria episode compared with 15% in the control area #MalariaUG

Hon. Anifa Kawooya Bangirana, State Minister of @MinofHealthUG – General Duties: We have seen that providing SPAQ to children through this programme amounts to a ‘best buy’ in our efforts to bring down the burden of malaria in our communities #MalariaUG (1/3)

Kawooya: Given what it brings in terms of savings to families with sick children who would otherwise incur potentially catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditures for repeated visits to clinics or drug shops; and to the health care system #MalariaUG (2/3)

Kawooya: It is exciting to be able to scale up the SMC programme to cover eight districts, meaning we are now able to protect around 300,000 children every month from malaria #MalariaUG (3/3)