Surveillance as a Core Intervention to Strengthen Malaria Control Programs in Moderate to High Transmission Settings

Authors: Alison Fountain, Yazoume Ye, Arantxa Roca-Feltrer, Alexander K. Rowe, Alioune Camara, Aissata Fofana, Balthazar Candrinho, Busiku Hamainza,Medoune Ndiop, Richard Steketee, and Julie Thwing

This article sought to present perspectives, experiences, and best practices from national malaria control programs and international partners regarding surveillance as a core intervention (SACI) in moderate and high malaria transmission settings. Researchers contacted the following groups: a) experts in malaria surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation from national malaria control programs (NMCPs) who were early adopters of routine surveillance-driven decision making, b) international non-governmental organizations, and c) funding partners who have guided efforts toward surveillance as a core intervention. Representatives from the NMCPs of Guinea, Mozambique, Senegal, and Zambia participated and provided oral or written responses to a list of questions in relation to their malaria control and surveillance programs. Findings from this research identified that effectively transforming malaria surveillance into a core intervention will require strong global and national leadership, empowerment of subnational and local leaders, collaboration among development partners, and global coordination. In addition, regular data quality audits, decentralized implementation, supportive supervision, data-informed decision-making processes, and harnessing technology for data analysis and visualization are needed to improve the capacity for data-driven decision-making at all levels.