Implementing Post-discharge Malaria Chemoprevention (PMC) to reduce child mortality and morbidity among children with severe anaemia

The project will study the implementation of routine malaria prevention among children in Malawi who have suffered and treated at hospital for severe anaemia. Severe anaemia each year kills many children in Africa south of Sahara, and it does so even after a successful treatment that typically includes blood transfusion and pharmaceutical treatments. The research collaboration has earlier demonstrated that routine malaria prevention with the drug DP is very effective in reducing deaths and new severe cases of anaemia, and the government of Malawi is therefore in the process of considering how to scale this up nationally.

The purpose of this research is to study in real-time various aspects of the scale-up. The project will first study which new knowledge that will be most valuable when introducing the treatment, in order for us to focus the research properly. It will involve health care decision makers in deciding how to design the treatment alternatives, so that our research becomes as relevant as possible. An experiment will be conducted where we compare the most promising implementation strategies in terms of how well they are accepted by patients and families. The factors that enable and constrain treatment uptake, both from the perspectives of the patients and the health care providers will be investigated. It will analyse costs- and conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis to ensure the best value for money, and engage decision makers in a policy translation process based on our research, so that our results may make a difference both at regional and international levels.

An interdisciplinary team of leading researchers from Africa and Europe have been brought together. In Malawi, there is a collaboration with the Training and Research Unit of Excellence, Kamuzu University of Health Sciences and the National Malaria Control Programme. University of York in the UK contribute health economic expertise, while the University of Bergen leads the consortium.

Official Project details

Drug-based Strategies
Vulnerable Populations

Jan 2021 — Dec 2027

$1.4M

Norway