In 2006, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) began providing the Government of Zanzibar assistance in indoor residual spraying (IRS) to kill the mosquitoes that transmit the disease. Since PMI began spraying in 2006, the incidence of malaria has reduced from an average annual rate of 35% to less than 1%.

In the northern region of Ghana, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative’s (PMI) Africa Indoor Residual Spraying (AIRS) Project returned to Karaga District in 2017 after four years. 

Data indicates that malaria was responsible for 45 percent of admissions and 28 percent of deaths at health centers in Zambézia Province, Mozambique. PMI is supporting activities with the Zambézia Provincial Health Directorate to improve the ability of laboratory technicians to properly identify and diagnose malaria.

To help Ghana's National Malaria Control Program collect standardized information and better assess health facility performance over time, PMI supported the introduction of a checklist that is completed by supervisors during their outreach training and supportive supervision (OTSS) visits. 

With support from PMI, Thailand’s BVBD (Bureau of Vector Borne Diseases) has developed a new software application that consolidates data from the vertical system with the General Health Service’s system into a single surveillance system.

Sampov Loun Operational District is located along the Cambodian-Thai border where malaria drug resistance has been documented.  In close consultation with PMI and the National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology, and Malaria, a basic essential package of activities for malaria pre-elimination using the "1-3-7" surveillance approach was designed for piloting in this district.

Festus Akun is a 9-year-old student at Amanhyia Roman Catholic Primary School in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Like many other children in Ghana, Festus now rests safe and sound, protected from mosquitoes because he sleeps under an insecticide-treated mosquito net. 

The availability of high-quality, inexpensive rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) has transformed the diagnosis and management of childhood illnesses in Zambia and across Africa, allowing for the rapid prescription of life-saving treatment, particularly for children.

Frontline health workers like Adrian are often the first, and sometimes only, providers of health services essential to child and maternal survival, like diagnosing and treating malaria.

Since 2007, PMI has been working with Zambia’s National Malaria Control Program and other partners to scale up malaria prevention tools in the country.

In Madagascar, where the entire population is at risk of contracting malaria, the PMI AIRS Project is building the capacity of the government to deliver high-quality spraying through trainings and collaborative meetings

The PMI AIRS Project worked with trusted members communities in Madagascar, including traditional kings and local authorities, to develop an advocacy work plan for their commune, resulting in a 93.5% coverage.

The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) Africa Indoor Residual Spraying Project (AIRS) in Nigeria is helping to increase the knowledge around the behavior of the malaria-carrying vector, the anopheline species, by training entomologists and malaria vector control experts in universities and national malaria control programs. 

To help Ethiopia safely dispose of DDT, the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative Africa Indoor Residual Spraying (AIRS) Project facilitated training, collection, transboundary permits, offshore shipment, and incineration of the waste in Poland. 

While malaria accounts for a staggering 40 percent of all outpatient visits in Tanzania, the local health facilities often face staff shortages and weak supply chains. To help address these gaps, MalariaCare trains supervisory staff from Tanzania’s National Malaria Control Program on providing outreach training and supportive supervision.

Tanzania’s predominantly rural population depends on remote facilities to provide for their basic health needs. Recognizing the importance of regular support and guidance at such locations, President’s Malaria Initiative-funded MalariaCare and Tanzania’s National Malaria Control Program support even the hardest to reach facilities.

FrontLines sat down with Amadou Bakhao Diaw recently to discuss the region’s progress in malaria control but got much more: Diaw shared a personal perspective, including his recollections of a painful past and the hopeful future that is shaping up for his country as malaria slowly fades from memory.

In Senegal, the President’s Malaria Initiative Africa Indoor Residual Spraying (PMI AIRS) Project, with the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP), piloted a community-based IRS (CB-IRS) effort in Malem Hoddar District to reduce costs, such as vehicle rental, material storage, and personnel. 

The PMI AIRS Project in Benin works with a local recycling center to turn empty insecticide bottles into paving stones. 

PMI is currently helping to prepare Agulu zonal laboratory to receive a final accreditation audit from the American National Standards Institute ‒ American Society for Quality (ANSI‒ASQ) National Accreditation Board. If successful, the Agulu zonal laboratory will be one of few laboratories in the world to achieve accreditation in a record time of six months.