SummaryArtemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is one strategy recommended to increase cure rates in malaria and to contain resistance to Plasmodium falciparum. In the Maheba refugee settlement, children aged 5 years or younger with a confirmed diagnosis of uncomplicated falciparum malaria are treated with the combination of sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (1 day) and artesunate (3 days). To measure treatment adherence, home visits were carried out the day after the last treatment dose. Patients who had any treatment dose left were considered certainly non-adherent. Other patients' classification was based on the answers to the questionnaire: patients whose caretakers stated the child had received the treatment regimen exactly as prescribed were considered probably adherent; all other patients were considered probably non-adherent. Reasons for non-adherence were assessed. We found 21.2% (95% CI [15.0-28.4]) of the patients to be certainly non-adherent, 39.4% (95% CI [31.6-47.6]) probably non-adherent, and 39.4% (95% CI [31.6-47.6]) probably adherent. Insufficient explanation by the dispenser was identified as an important reason for non-adherence. When considering the use of ACT, the issue of patient adherence remains challenging. However, it should not be used as an argument against the introduction of ACT. For these treatment regimens to remain efficacious on a long-term basis, specific and locally adapted strategies need to be implemented to ensure completion of the treatment.

Introduction The introduction of new vaccines highlights concerns about high vaccine wastage, knowledge of wastage policies and quality of stock management. However, an emphasis on minimizing wastage rates may cause confusion when recommendations are also being made to reduce missed opportunities to routinely vaccinate children. This concern is most relevant for lyophilized vaccines without preservatives [e.g. measles-containing vaccine (MCV)], which can be used for a limited time once reconstituted. Methods We sampled 54 health facilities within 11 local government areas (LGAs) in Nigeria and surveyed health sector personnel regarding routine vaccine usage and wastage-related knowledge and practices, conducted facility exit interviews with caregivers of children about missed opportunities for routine vaccination, and abstracted vaccine stock records and vaccination session data over a 6-month period to calculate wastage rates and vaccine vial usage patterns. Results Nearly half of facilities had incomplete vaccine stock data for calculating wastage rates. Among facilities with sufficient data, mean monthly facility-level wastage rates were between 18 and 35% across all reviewed vaccines, with little difference between lyophilized and liquid vaccines. Most (98%) vaccinators believed high wastage led to recent vaccine stockouts, yet only 55% were familiar with the multi-dose vial policy for minimizing wastage. On average, vaccinators reported that a minimum of six children must be present prior to opening a 10-dose MCV vial. Third dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTP3) was administered in 84% of sessions and MCV in 63%; however, the number of MCV and DTP3 doses administered were similar indicating the number of children vaccinated with DTP3 and MCV were similar despite less frequent MCV vaccination opportunities. Among caregivers, 30% reported being turned away for vaccination at least once; 53% of these children had not yet received the missed dose. Discussion Our findings show inadequate implementation of vaccine management guidelines, missed opportunities to vaccinate, and lyophilized vaccine wastage rates below expected rates. Missed opportunities for vaccination may occur due to how the health system’s contradicting policies may force health workers to prioritize reduced wastage rates over vaccine administration, particularly for multi-dose vials.

With its 2006-2011 National Malaria Strategic Plan, Zambia committed to control malaria at a national scale. This scale-up for impact approach was facilitated by sound business planning and financing in 2006 of approximately US$35 million. Compared with surveys in 2001 and 2004, a 2006 national survey of 14,681 persons in 2,999 households at the end of the transmission season showed substantial coverage increases for preventive interventions. Ownership and use rates of insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) among vulnerable groups doubled, with 44% of households owning ITNs and 23% of children less than five years of age and 24% of pregnant women using them. Roll Back Malaria Abuja targets for intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) were exceeded, with 62% of pregnant women receiving at least two doses of IPTp. As of 2006, Zambia is demonstrating substantial progress toward the national targets (80% population coverage rates for the interventions) and aspires to show that malaria need not be its leading health problem, and that malaria control is a sound national investment.

Background: Following the recognition that morbidity and mortality due to malaria had dramatically increased in the last three decades, in 2002 the government of Zambia reviewed its efforts to prevent and treat malaria. Convincing evidence of the failing efficacy of chloroquine resulted in the initiation of a process that eventually led to the development and implementation of a new national drug policy based on artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT).

Background: Sentinel site surveillance of antimalarials by in-vivo therapeutic efficacy studies in Zambia is one of the key activities ear-marked for monitoring and evaluation. The studies are conducted annually in order to provide timely and reliable information on the status of the recommended regimens for malaria case management. The findings of the therapeutic efficacy of an artemisinin-based combination therapy of pediatric artemether-lumefantrine (Coartesiane ® ) are reported.