Valuable Research Findings Disclosed and Discussed among stakeholders
19/11/2009
Malaria Consortium/Coalition Against Malaria in Ethiopia (CAME) organized and successfully conducted a half day dissemination workshop on November 12, 2009 on results of operational researches done pertaining to malaria prevention and control in order to attain the 2009 World Malaria motto “Counting out Malaria” .A total of 76 people from the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), Regional Health Bureaus, Teaching and Research Institutes, NGOs, CSOs, FBOs, media, people living with HIV/AIDS Associations Network, Private Sector, UN agencies and multilaterals (members of CAME), participated in the workshop that was held at the Yoly Hotel, Addis Ababa. The main essence of the workshop among other things includes, sharing experience/information and disclosing new tools such as dual LLINs and mosquito repellents. It also created the right forum for CAME members to better engage in operational research and evidence based facilitation of policy change. Facilitated by Dr. Yemane Ye-ebio, chairperson of CAME Steering Committee from Center for National Health Development in Ethiopia (CNHDE), the workshop heard presentations of the various research done concerning malaria in Ethiopia including:
· Result of the assessment of LLINs status in three regions (Amahara, Oromia, and SNNPRS) by The Carter Centre/CDC,
· Insecticide Susceptibility status of An.gambiae s.l in selected villages of Oromia Region, by RTI,
· Introduction of new tool with increased efficacy against pyrethroid-resistant malaria vectors, by Vestergaard Frandsen, and
· Effects of the combined use of mosquito repellents and ITNs on malaria prevalence in Southern Ethiopia: A cluster randomized controlled trail, by CAME The above indicated four research documents were presented to the participants for their discussions and comments. Some of the major technical and policy issues raised were: · To quickly facilitate the completion of the national level mapping of Insecticide Susceptibility status of An.gambiae s.l study. In light of this, decisions were made to recommend to FMoH to subsequently purchase only 100 diner instead of the previously purchased 75 diners,
· Taking into account the LLINs assessment result, it was agreed that it is time to opt for better strength of LLINs,
· Appreciating the study of mosquito repellents it was noted that there is promising value added when repellants are combined with LLINs in the prevention of malaria,
· To further update the IEC/BCC part of LLINs as there is a big gap in knowledge and practice,
· As country we need to be highly engaged in operational researches if we are serious about reaching malaria elimination in 2020. As a way forward the Malaria Consortium Country Director and Coordinator of CAME proposed the following:
· To continue mobilizing resources in order to regularly carry out such very important scientific fora and exchange information, · To upgrade the resource centre in order to systematically disseminate information to the larger group,
· To work closely with Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute (ENHRI) and other partners to come up with evidence-based facts and figures for policy change,
· To strengthen partnerships in the years to come for the enhanced fight against malaria in Ethiopia and
· As there are many operational researches on the pipe-line, similar fora will be organized as soon as possible and will continue to be organized on a quarterly basis in the future.
Dr. Daddi Jima, Deputy Director General for ENHRI, as a concluding remark, noted that there should be as many operational researches for actions conducted as possible in the country. To this end, he promised that ENHRI will provide all necessary assistance. He also indicated the possibility of getting funds from the FMoH (GF grant) if good proposals on operational researches are prepared and presented to the Ministry. Participants appreciated the information gained and committed themselves to use it in their activities in malaria prevention and control.
