Monitoring of the Village Malaria Workers to conduct activities of Malaria Elimination Demonstration Project in Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Harsh Rajvanshi,Himanshu Jayswar,Kalyan B Saha,Ravendra K Sharma,Sekh Nisar,Harpreet Kaur,Ashok K Mishra,Altaf A Lal,Praveen K Bharti,Aparup Das

doi:10.1186/s12936-021-04040-2

Abstract

BackgroundThe capacity of the field staff to conduct activities related to disease surveillance, case management, and vector control has been one of the key components for successfully achieving malaria elimination. India has committed to eliminate malaria by 2030, and it has placed significance on monitoring and evaluation at the district level as one of the key strategies in its national framework. To support and guide the country’s malaria elimination objectives, the Malaria Elimination Demonstration Project was conducted in the tribal district of Mandla, Madhya Pradesh. Robust monitoring of human resources received special attention to help the national programme formulate a strategy to plug the gaps in its supply chain and monitoring and evaluation systems.MethodsA monitoring tool was developed to test the capabilities of field workers to conduct activities related to malaria elimination work. Between November 2018 to February 2021, twenty-five Malaria Field Coordinators (MFCs) of the project utilized this tool everyday during the supervisory visits for their respective Village Malaria Workers (VMWs). The data was analysed and the scores were tested for variations against different blocks, educational status, duration of monitoring, and post-training scores.ResultsDuring the study period, the VMWs were monitored a total of 8974 times using the monitoring tool. Each VMW was supervised an average of 1.8 times each month. The critical monitoring indicators scored well in all seven quarters of the study as monitored by the MFCs. Monitoring by MFCs remained stable at 97.3% in all quarters. Contrary to expectations, the study observed longer diagnosis to treatment initiation time in urban areas of the district.ConclusionThis study demonstrated the significance of a robust monitoring tool as an instrument to determine the capacity of the field workers in conducting surveillance, case management, and vector control related work for the malaria elimination programme. Similar tools can be replicated not only for malaria elimination, but other public health interventions as well.

Highlights

The capacity of the field staff to conduct activities related to disease surveillance, case management, and vector control has been one of the key components for successfully achieving malaria elimination
These Village Malaria Worker (VMW) were supervised by 25 Malaria Field Coordinators (MFCs), who were posted at the cluster level [18]
This study demonstrated the use of a robust monitoring tool to assess the performance and activities of the field staff working at the ground level

Summary

Introduction

The capacity of the field staff to conduct activities related to disease surveillance, case management, and vector control has been one of the key components for successfully achieving malaria elimination. India has committed to eliminate malaria by 2030, and it has placed significance on monitoring and evaluation at the district level as one of the key strategies in its national framework. A need for robust monitoring and evaluation has been highlighted by the World Health Organization [1, 2], African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) [3], Elimination Eight Initiative (E8) [4], and The Lancet Commission [5]. The malaria elimination efforts in Algeria [6], TimorLeste [7], Sri Lanka [8], China [9], and Azerbaijan [10] placed priority on sound monitoring. The existing and new tools for malaria elimination will be only effective under a net of sound monitoring, learning, and feedback mechanisms

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Discussion

Conclusion