Abstract
BackgroundNigeria has the world’s largest malaria burden, accounting for 27% of the world’s malaria cases and 23% of malaria mortality globally. This formative study describes the operational process of the mass distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) during a campaign program in Nigeria.ObjectiveThis study aims to assess whether and how digital data collection and management tools can change current practices and help resolve major implementation issues.MethodsQualitative data on the technical features and operational processes of paper-based and information and communication technology (ICT)–based systems in the Edo and Kwara states from June 2 to 30, 2017, were collected on the basis of documented operation manuals, field observations, and informant interviews. During the LLIN campaign in Edo State, we recruited 6 local government area focal persons and monitors and documented daily review meetings during household mobilization (9 days) and net distribution (5 days) to understand the major program implementation issues associated with the following three aspects: logistic issues, technical issues, and demand creation. Each issue was categorized according to the expected degree (low, mid, and high) of change by the ICT system.ResultsThe net campaign started with microplanning and training, followed by a month-long implementation process, which included household mobilization, net movement, net distribution, and end process monitoring. The ICT system can improve management and oversight issues related to data reporting and processes through user-centered interface design, built-in data quality control logic flow or algorithms, and workflow automation. These often require more than 50% of staff time and effort in the current paper-based practice. Compared with the current paper-based system, the real-time system is expected to reduce the time to payment compensation for health workers by about 20 days and produce summary campaign statistics for at least 20 to 30 days.ConclusionsThe ICT system can facilitate the measurement of population coverage beyond program coverage during an LLIN campaign with greater data reliability and timeliness, which are often compromised due to the limited workforce capacity in a paper-based system.
Highlights
The use of digital data collection and management tools based on information and communication technology (ICT) can promote supply chain management [17,18,19] and sustainable and effective use of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) [20,21]; there is not enough evidence or guidelines that describe the specific features, processes, and consequences of how the ICT system could change the current practice
From the perspective of management decision-making, the goal of this study is to describe the detailed process and system of mass distribution LLIN campaign programs and identify major challenges and resolution approaches in the paper- and ICT-based systems
The net campaign started with microplanning and training followed by a month-long implementation, including household mobilization, net movement, net distribution, and end process monitoring (Figures 1 and 2)
Summary
Nigeria has the world’s largest malaria burden, accounting for 27% of the world’s malaria cases and 23% of malaria mortality globally This formative study describes the operational process of the mass distribution of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) during a campaign program in Nigeria. Nigeria has the world’s largest burden of malaria, accounting for 27% of the world’s malaria cases and 23% of malaria mortality globally [1]. Long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) have played an important role in the remarkable reduction in the number of malaria cases and deaths worldwide over the past decade. More progress is required to improve sustained coverage [10] as well as access and use from an equity perspective [11]
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