SMC Impact project in Guinea
The Campaign
The 2021 SMC campaign in Guinea has started in the Dabola district thanks to the SMC Impact project aiming at measuring the impact of SMC when administered for 5 consecutive months versus the currently recommended 4 months and implemented for the past 3 years in this district. Based on incidence data in the district, the peak of malaria transmission occurs over 5 months (June – October), and it is anticipated that by adding one more round of malaria chemoprevention we could prevent 10% more malaria cases in the area.
This project is targeting about 35,000 children over 3 consecutive malaria seasons 2021-2023. To prepare for this round of SMC in Dabola, a general advocacy campaign promoting SMC was conducted followed by micro-planning in the first week of May 2021. SMC tools and commodities were then dispatched, and health personnel involved in the delivery of the SMC campaign were trained. A total of 387 people were trained, from health district managers to drugs distributors and mobilizers. Since data collection is digital in Guinea as of this year, data collectors were also among the trained staff.
The Results
For 5 days during the months of June to October, 278 distributors in teams of 2, with the participation of the social mobilizers facilitated the administration of SPAQ to 41140 children (92%) in cycle 1, 43923 children (99%) in cycle 2, 44389 children (99.71%) in cycle 3, 44776 children (101%) in cycle 4 et 43550 children (98%) for a population of 44 518 that were planned during the micro-planning.
41,186 children benefited from four cycles during this campaign, i.e. 93%. Those who completed the 5 cycles number 36,944, thus representing 83%. These encouraging results were attributable to the involvement of high-level health authorities through the arrival of the Ministry of Health in the field in the Dabola region, which mobilized district health officials and health center managers for two days during the campaign.