Incorporating Community Case Management in Risk-Based Surveillance for Malaria Elimination in the Dominican Republic

Authors: Isabel Byrne, Luca Nelli, Keyla Ureña, Luccène Désir, Claudia Hilario Rodriguez, Nicole Michelén Ströfer, Justin T Lana, Gregory S Noland, Manuel de Jesús Tejada Beato, Jose Luis Cruz Raposo, Chris Drakeley, Karen E S Hamre, Gillian Stresman

This study looked at how community health workers (CHWs) helped improve malaria detection in the Dominican Republic. Normally, regular health data isn’t enough to show if malaria has stopped spreading, especially when cases are low. By adding CHW data to the system, more areas could confidently be shown to be free of malaria, and for longer periods. The study found that CHW involvement made malaria monitoring much more accurate and supported the country’s efforts to eliminate the disease.