Description
Introduction
Swiss public health scientists have supported National Malaria Control Programmes (NMCP) in a number of African countries for the past 25 years. That support has been greatly variable in both scope and intensity. In involved both basic and applied research, as well as technical advice and direct implementation support. At the Swiss TPH, we have mainly supported the Congolese and Tanzanian programmes in areas as varied as vector control, case management, monitoring & evaluation, modelling, donor management, administration and finances.
Methodology
Financial support for this work has usually come from bilateral donor agencies, including the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). A strong feature of our support has been the synergies created between our research efforts and the translation of findings into control operations, as seen for example in the large-scale implementation of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) and in the more recent efforts of modelling/risk stratification at national and sub-national level. An important aspect of our work has also been to turn more generally new evidence from successful research projects at global level into new strategies and implementation programmes, particularly in the areas of vector control and case management.
Results and Discussions
We believe that many of our key learnings during this long-term support have a wider relevance. While the principle of country ownership is central for a successful programme implementation, a role for trans-national technical support to the design and implementation of these large-scale programmes is in line with the global nature and complexity of the malaria control and elimination effort. We will illustrate specific case studies in the work undertaken in the past two decades, and point towards the enormous transformation of our role as technical advisers during this period. This transformation was the result of rapidly increasing financial resources for malaria control, an expanding range of technical options, and the successful massive strengthening of human capacity in endemic countries. Logically, this review leads to then asking about the relevance and legitimacy of technical advice and support by Northern academic institutions in the future.
Conclusions
On the basis of our long-standing experience in the technical support provided to malaria control and elimination programmes, we believe that such support is still important for endemic countries, but needs to be carefully designed in a country-led process.
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