A short update on activities that have taken place at the beginning of this year.
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In Uganda, the 2020 mass distribution campaign is due to begin in early July following a lifting of lockdown and changes to the campaign strategy due to COVID-19. The most notable of these changes is the decision to carry out household registration and distribution simultaneously. This change, alongside other considerations due to COVID-19, means that more nets will be needed. Using household level data from the last distribution, we estimated that this additional net need would be 1.3m and have purchased these nets. Distribution of AMF nets will not begin until later in the year but AMF will monitor the first wave of distribution via an independent organisation. Lessons learnt will be made available to all partners so that any necessary improvements to the campaign can be made for subsequent distribution waves. Household level data will still be collected electronically and the planned study to monitor a new net – the Royal Guard – is still planned to take place. Post-distribution monitoring (PDM) 30 months after the 2017/18 distribution is now complete. Field monitoring in the Western region finished in March and the sleeping space coverage at 30 months in the Western region is 74%, a strong result.
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In DRC, the distribution of 1.9 million nets to 550,000 households began 'door to door' in Sud Ubangi province on 24th May. Photos below. This distribution was delayed due to the COVID-19 lockdown and the need to procure PPE (personal protection equipment), availability of cash for payments in province and a security incident during cash transfer from the capital to health zones. Distribution in Haut Katanga province is scheduled to begin in July. Distribution in Tanganyika province will start in July, where registration and distribution will be undertaken simultaneously due to COVID-19. We have purchased 1.5m additional nets due to COVID-19.
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In Togo, the first shipment of 1.5 million AMF nets has arrived in Lomé. Monitoring of the campaign has started with our independent monitor, GRASE Population. Registration and distribution will now take place simultaneously 'door to door'. We have committed to purchasing 0.5m additional nets to ensure full coverage considering the changes due to COVID-19.
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In Ghana, the PDM at 18 months in Brong Ahafo region was successfully completed in March. Data collection in the Upper East region was delayed slightly due to COVID-19, but ultimately took place with our partner World Vision providing additional training to their data collectors on COVID-19 related precautions, including use of PPE. Results of the approach were positive with all households accepting data collectors into their homes for net inspection and many welcoming their COVID-19 sensitisation messages. The Data collection in the third and final region, Ashanti, is taking place now.
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In Guinea, our partner Cabinet Diagnostic undertook PDM at 9 months in four waves between February and May. Results for the first four waves show 94% of nets distributed are present in households with 82% of nets hung and in use.
Our discussions with both the Malian and Guinean authorities are making progress to ensure the nets diverted to Mali are returned to Guinea and used to protect Guineans as intended. A blogpost in the next month will provide an update.
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In Zambia, after pausing the 18-months PDM activity in Central Province in February due to the security situation, our partner CHAZ was able to resume post distribution monitoring in March. This was then forced to stop before completion on 30th March due to Government restrictions on movement due to COVID-19. PDMs resumed in Central and Western province on 16th June and will be followed by the PDM in North-Western province. In addition, we are reviewing the accuracy of the distribution data from the last campaign (2017) by re-entering a large sample of distribution data collected during PDMs.
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In Papua New Guinea (PNG), our partner RAM continues to distribute nets in provinces scheduled to receive this support in 2020. Milne Bay is complete, and the team is hard at work in the Highlands areas. PNG has had relatively few cases of COVID-19, meaning the campaign is continuing with only small changes and minor delays. RAM is, however, taking additional precautions during the distribution: teams are quarantined for a number of days after travelling from Port Moresby to the provinces and distribution is now carried out house-to-house rather than at fixed sites where large groups would gather. The arrival of a small number of nets (16,000) in Enga province is delayed by one month due to airlines not operating. Overall, the campaign is on track to distribute 1.1m AMF-funded nets in high-risk areas.
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In Malawi, our partner the Malawi Red Cross Society was scheduled to undertake PDM activity at 18 months in April. This was postponed due to Government COVID-19 restrictions. Following the sharing of experiences between our partner World Vision in Ghana and the Red Cross in Malawi (and we were delighted to see the openness and willingness of this sharing and cooperation - sharing best practice), and a relaxation of government measures, a COVID-19 approach has been devised and PDMs will resume in July.
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