USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator Visits Lamwo District in Uganda to Observe Malaria Control Efforts Firsthand

Mia Beers, USAID deputy assistant administrator in the Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security, hands a treated mosquito net to a pregnant woman at Palabek Ogili Health Centre III. Pregnant women are given mosquito nets so they can protect themselves and their unborn babies from mosquitos and the diseases they spread. Photo: Angela Kateemu, JSI.

The U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) Uganda Malaria Reduction Activity (MRA), led by JSI with Lamwo District leaders, welcomed Mia Beers, deputy assistant administrator in the Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security, to Palabek Ogili Health Centre III. The visit to the Lamwo District in the Acholi region of Uganda provided Beers a closer look at the various malaria prevention and response activities supported by PMI MRA in health facilities and communities.

The visit to Palabek Ogili Health Centre III included a tour of the outpatient department, antenatal care clinic, and commodity store as well as a meeting with Uganda’s community health workers, also known as Village Health Teams (VHTs). The Malaria Reduction Activity trained these workers to deliver quality services then tasked them with providing integrated community case management and malaria prevention services at the community level.

Beers and her team, accompanied by Deputy Mission Director for the USAID Mission in Uganda Jonathan Cone, also interacted with health workers, mothers, and children receiving PMI-supported services in the region. She observed firsthand the distribution of life-saving mosquito nets to pregnant mothers and talked with health workers and VHTs about the impact of PMI’s support in the region.

The Malaria Reduction Activity works in close partnership with the Ministry of Health, district leadership, facilities, communities, and other health partners to strengthen malaria prevention and response efforts, ultimately reducing malaria morbidity and mortality in Uganda. It also facilitates the use of data for evidence-informed malaria interventions and creates an enabling environment for communities to lead and own malaria reduction efforts. In the Activity’s three years of implementation, the percentage of pregnant women who received three doses of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy increased from 41 to 57 percent, and the proportion of suspected malaria cases tested for malaria increased from 61 to 100 percent. Moreover, community and facility reporting rates into the national health management information system increased from 41 and 56 percent to 89 and 100 percent, respectively.

The Activity operates in several high-burden regions of Uganda, including Acholi, West Nile, Lango, Karamoja, and Busoga. The high-level visit reinforced the U.S. Government’s dedication to supporting Uganda’s fight against malaria while recognizing the importance of local partners in achieving sustained malaria control.

Since its inception in 2006, PMI has played a critical role in the fight against malaria in Uganda’s Acholi region. Beginning with the distribution of mosquito nets to pregnant women and children under five, PMI has expanded its work to include the provision of essential malaria commodities, such as rapid diagnostic tests, Artemisinin-based combination therapies, and injectable Artesunate for more severe cases. Over the past three years, through MRA, PMI’s initiatives have grown to support training and mentorship for health workers, supervision by district health teams, and community engagement through Village Health Teams and malaria prevention interventions at the household level.