Interactive Malaria Education Intervention and Its Effect on Community Participant Knowledge: The Malaria Awareness Program in Vhembe District, Limpopo, South Africa.

Malaria is preventable and treatable, yet remains the most prevalent parasitic endemic disease in Africa. This article analyzes prospective observational data from the Malaria Awareness Program (MAP), an interactive malaria education initiative led by home-based care workers to improve participant knowledge of malaria as a precursor to increased uptake of malaria control interventions in the Vhembe District, Limpopo, South Africa. Between 2012 and 2016, 1,330 individuals participated in MAP. MAP's effectiveness was measured through pre- and post-participation surveys assessing knowledge in malaria transmission, symptoms, prevention, and treatment. The primary analysis assessed differences in knowledge between individuals who completed MAP ( n = 499) and individuals who did not complete MAP ( n = 399). The adjusted odds of correct malaria knowledge score versus partially correct or incorrect score among MAP completers was 3.3 and 2.8 times greater for transmission and prevention, respectively ( p values<.001). A subanalysis assessed knowledge improvement among participants who completed both pre- and post-MAP intervention surveys ( n = 266). There was a 21.4% and 10.5% increase in the proportion of participants who cited correct malaria transmission and prevention methods, respectively. Future research should assess behavioral changes toward malaria prevention and treatment as a result of an intervention and examine incidence changes in the region.

COVID-19 and the malaria elimination agenda in Africa: Re-shifting the focus.

The global Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in public health, political, scientific and private sector response at an unprecedented scale. However, this shift in focus has caused widespread disruption to global health services and has the potential to reverse gains made in efforts to control malaria. If health systems are not able to maintain malaria control interventions while managing the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, malaria cases will increase, thereby placing even more strain on already overtaxed systems. Using a Narrative Review Approach, this commentary explores the impact of COVID-19 on progress made with malaria control and prevention strategies in Africa; and discusses possible mitigation steps to aid community resilience building, through proactive planning and implementation of integrated, inclusive and sustainable strategies to re-shift the focus to attain the malaria elimination goals. We propose strengthening community partnerships, where academia and communities should collaborate and these knowledge-sharing strategies be implemented in order for awareness and interventions to become more networked, inclusive, resilient and effective. Communities should be viewed as 'thought partners', who challenge conventional strategies and aid in developing innovative approaches to community resilience building.