JSI to Improve Malaria Prevention and Treatment in Uganda

John Snow, Inc. (JSI) has been awarded the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) Uganda Malaria Reduction Activity (PUMRA), funded by USAID. As the U.S. Government’s flagship malaria activity in Uganda, PUMRA aims to improve the survival and well-being of Uganda’s most vulnerable pregnant women and children (0–15) in selected regions.

Through PUMRA, JSI and partners will work with the Government of Uganda to strengthen technical, managerial, financial, and leadership capacity at all levels of the health system.

PUMRA provides a crucial opportunity to implement priorities in the National Malaria Control Division’s Uganda Malaria Reduction and Elimination Strategic Plan 2021–25. PUMRA will strengthen community and household capacity to prevent malaria and to access high-quality malaria services, while maintaining gains made at the health facility level.

Previous and current malaria programs in Uganda have strengthened national, district, and health facility-level strategy and technical capacities. They have not, however, fully reinforced the potential of malaria prevention, diagnosis, and treatment at the community and household levels.

PUMRA is implemented by JSI, in partnership with the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics; Another Option, LLC; Makerere University; Programme for Accessible Health, Communication, and Education; and Medical Care Development International.

JSI has been a public health leader in malaria prevention and treatment programs for decades, weaving malaria initiatives into broader integrated health programs, as well as focusing on services including strong supply chains for insecticide-treated bed nets and treatment therapies. Today, we manage the USAID-funded PMI Measure Malaria project to strengthen surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation systems. In Uganda, JSI has supported the government for more than 30 years to strengthen the health system. Currently, we support its efforts to control infectious diseases, including through the USAID Tuberculosis Implementation Framework Agreement and USAID-supported Strategies to Prevent Spillover Initiative, which enhances Ugandan institutions’ understanding of disease spread from animals to humans. We have worked to strengthen routine immunization systems, and are leading efforts to mitigate malnutrition through USAID Advancing Nutrition. Lastly, in the Lango Sub-region of northern Uganda, we’re improving access to and availability of high-quality health services through the USAID RHITES-N Lango project.