Private Sector and PMI Join Forces, Strengthen Angola’s Capacity to Control Mosquitoes
Luanda, Angola - Top global companies and the President's Malaria Initiative are working with the Government of Angola on an intensive technical training program to arm the country's malaria fighters with state-of-the-art mosquito surveillance and vector control techniques.
By aiding the sharing of these comprehensive technical skills and best practices in mosquito monitoring and evaluation, as well as providing training on how to use the latest malaria control products, the private sector will help Angola, which reported more than 3.1 million cases of malaria in 2009, move more quickly toward reducing the disease's deadly impact.
Public and private sector health technicians from the provincial and district level will acquire basic capabilities and skills that are needed to determine the impact of malaria control efforts around the country, a gap which hampers decision-making on resource deployment at the national level.
When completed, the technicians will be able to monitor and evaluate mosquitoes, before sending them to senior scientists for further entomological analysis. The senior entomologists and malaria program officers will be empowered with critical information to ensure the success of sustainable malaria control programs and the ability to deploy limited resources more effectively and efficiently.
Company representatives also will train the participants in techniques for using a variety of state-of-the-art malaria intervention products, such as long-lasting, insecticide-treated malaria nets and indoor residual sprays.
The workshop, which kicks off February 15 in Bengo, is organized by the Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa (CAMA), President's Malaria Initiative, the Government of Angola, USAID's implementing partner Research Triangle Institute International (RTI) and the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. It is part of the Angola National Malaria Control Program's overall effort to scale-up malaria prevention and treatment services to reduce the health, social and economic burden resulting from the disease.
Other partners in the effort include the World Health Organization African Regional Office. Lead corporate sponsorship is by the Chevron Corporation, with additional private sector support from Halliburton, Bayer, Sumitomo Chemical, Cameron International and Vestergaard Frandsen.
The Ministry of Health, through the National Malaria Control Program, has utilized integrated vector control as one of the country's main malaria control interventions, including prevention programs such as the widespread use of insecticide treated nets, indoor and outdoor residual spraying, and larviciding. At present the country is implementing a nation wide program for larval control- including all the cities in the country. This program is integrated with a massive distribution program of insecticide treated nets and localized indoor and outdoor spraying in a selective and sustainable manner, making these valuable actions in the fight against malaria in Angola. With this training, the National Malaria Control Program will create institutional capacity for vector control at the local level and create conditions for Angola to develop a pilot project in Africa for Integrated control of vector borne diseases. (Nilton Saraiva, Angola National Malaria Control Program)
"Malaria remains the main cause of mortality in Angola," said Alan Kleier, Chevron Managing Director for Southern Africa Business Unit. "As part of Chevron's core community investment strategies, we will continue to work closely with the Angolan Government and partners in order to meet the goal of a malaria-free Angola. I firmly believe that our investment in this capacity building training program in entomology is equally important as our contribution of $5 million made in 2008 through the Global Fund against Malaria for Angola. It will help create a group of Angolan experts who will be better prepared to fight this disease."
"This unique partnership between the private sector, Government of Angola and PMI provides an opportunity to build in country capacity to monitor malaria control interventions in Angola," said Rick Wilkins, Vice President, Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa and General Manager Health & Medical Services, Chevron. "It builds a foundation to develop an effective resistance management and monitoring strategy in Angola- areas in which the private sectors expertise can be leveraged."
"This training will provide robust knowledge for Angola's entomologist technicians," said Jules Mihigo, PMI/Angola. "Health staff will be trained to monitor resistance to insecticides used for bed nets and indoor residual spraying, and will also be able to detect morphological distinction between a culex and anopheles. These skills will contribute to reduce the burden of malaria in Angola."
About the Corporate Alliance on Malaria in Africa (CAMA)
CAMA is a coalition of 12 companies with operations in Africa dedicated to advancing private sector activity to improve the impact of malaria control efforts in sub-Saharan Africa. This joint effort maximizes malaria intervention benefits through in-country cooperation, information-sharing and private sector advocacy. CAMA is chaired by Marathon Oil Corporation. Other members are: Chevron Corporation, Halliburton, Bayer Environmental Science, Cameron International, Coca Cola Africa, EDG Engineers, Global Offshore International, Noble Energy, Wood Group and Worley Parsons. The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria serves as the Secretariat for CAMA. For more information visit: https://www.gbcimpact.org/about-gbc/cama
About PMI
The President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) represents an historic five-year expansion of U.S. Government (USG) resources to fight malaria in the region most affected by the disease. The President committed an additional $1.2 billion in malaria funding to this Initiative with the goal of reducing malaria-related deaths by 50 percent in 15 focus countries. This will be achieved by expanding coverage of highly effective malaria prevention and treatment measures to 85 percent of the most vulnerable populations - children under 5 years of age and pregnant women. This package of high-impact interventions includes insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying (IRS) with insecticides, intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women (IPTp), and artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT).
To date, the PMI has contributed $63.45 million in funding ($7.5 million in 2006, $18.5 million in 2007, $18.5 million in 2008, and $18.75 million in 2009) for malaria prevention and treatment in Angola. To this funding is added $3 million made available by the PMI to ERD and ADPP for malaria community programs. Additionally, the ExxonMobil Foundation has provided gifts totaling $3.5 million to USAID over the past 4 years to directly support PMI activities in Angola. For more information visit: http://fightingmalaria.org/index.html.
About Research Triangle Institute
RTI International is dedicated to conducting research and development that improves the human condition by turning knowledge into practice. RTI offers innovative research and technical solutions to governments and businesses worldwide in the areas of health and pharmaceuticals, education and training, surveys and statistics, democratic governance, economic and social development, advanced technology, energy, and the environment. RTI is the second largest independent nonprofit research organization in the United States, with subsidiaries and offices around the world. For more information visit: https://www.rti.org.
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For further information contact:
Alison Bird, Development Outreach and Communications
USAID/Angola
+244 222 641 069