Malaria Public Health and Epidemiology Group

Percentage of children under five sleeping under an ITN by 2007The epidemiology of malaria in Africa is in transition with evidence of declining transmission and disease burdens. This has been a presumed consequence of expanded intervention coverage due to improved international donor financing. However all is not equal and there remain disparities in intervention coverage, neglected populations and constraints to further reductions due to biological and political vulnerabilities.

There has been very little scientific effort to rigorously document this change using validated metrics of infection risk, intervention coverage and disease outcome. At a time when transmission and disease burdens are in decline, with targets set for elimination or low stable endemic control, a renewed emphasis on the basic epidemiology of malaria is paramount. Furthermore new approaches to delivering effective control and disease management are required to maximize the renewed international effort to finance malaria programmes in Africa.

These include innovative ways of financing anti-malarial drugs, accessing medicines in rural areas, improving the way medicines are prescribed, increasing universal coverage of insecticide treated nets and adaptations of intervention suites to meet the special needs of urban, pastoralist and school aged populations. Over the period 2011-2016, the Malaria Public Health and Epidemiology Group in partnership with regional national disease control programmes aim to tackle key issues of optimizing intervention delivery to meet unmet needs and provide credible evidence of impact.

Projects under MPHEG include: