This article outlined below refers to work done in Namibia (Africa) but it is just as relevant for Asia-Pacific. The scientific study (published in The Lancet) has findings which, if applied in core residual malaria settings, would greatly assist NMCP’s in malaria elimination objectives. Read it, is is worth it!

The malaria trial conducted in northern Namibia demonstrates how malaria incidence can be reduced by up to 75% in settings where malaria transmission is mostly low but persistent, and plagued by sporadic outbreaks of higher numbers of malaria cases.

In this study, researchers conducted a trial to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of two interventions: (i) reactive focal mass drug administration (rfMDA) and (ii) reactive focal vector control (RAVC), and their combination.

This trial is unique because it is the first randomized controlled trial of rfMDA and/or RAVC. Study communities were randomly assigned to receive either rfMDA, or RAVC, or the combination, or neither of these two interventions (the latter being the control group).

“We found that reactive focal mass drug administration and reactive focal vector control, when implemented alone and in combination, significantly reduced malaria transmission among targeted populations in the Zambezi region of Namibia,” says Koekemoer. “Furthermore, the two interventions, when used in combination, had an additive effect – reducing rates of new malaria cases by 75%”.

You can find a shortened version of the full paper at https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-04/uotw-unt042520.php