PNG NMCP 2021-23 - Papua New Guinea National Malaria Control Programme Evaluation and Operational Research 2021 to 2023

Papua New Guinea (PNG), a country of over 8 million people in the South Pacific, exhibits a complex malaria epidemiology with marked heterogeneity in malaria transmission. With financial support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) has been implementing national distribution campaigns of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLIN) since 2004, followed by the roll-out of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDT) and artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) in health facilities in late 2011.

The PNG NMCP Evaluation 2021-2023 is a continuation of the independent evaluation of malaria control activities that was initiated in 2008. The project aims to assess outcomes and impacts of the Global Fund supported NMCP and provide accurate, up-to-date information on the changing malaria epidemiology in PNG (including aspects related to the malaria parasite, the mosquito vector, and the human host). The evidence generated in this project will also help to target malaria control and elimination efforts across PNG and hence directly inform programmatic decision-making at national and sub-national levels.

This project is part of an ongoing collaboration between Swiss TPH and the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (PNGIMR) to support the PNG NMCP.

It includes the following key activities:

Activity 1: a national Health Facility Survey in randomly selected public and faith-based health facilities across PNG to assess quality of malaria case management.

Activity 2: a national Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS) to track progress in malaria intervention coverage and malaria prevalence on national and regional levels.

Activity 3: stratification and modelling to predict the expected impact a targeted implementation of different intervention packages according to sub-national malaria risk.

Activity 4: Insecticide Resistance Monitoring to detect reduced susceptibility early and adjust guidelines to prevent widespread insecticide resistance in malaria vector mosquitoes.

Activity 5: LLIN durability assessment including bio-efficacy testing and chemical analysis of LLINs.

Activity 6: LLIN batch testing to ensure continued bioefficacy of LLIN products received and distributed in PNG.

Involved Regions: East Asia and Pacific
Involved Countries: Papua New Guinea, Australia

Giduthuri J.G, Kualawi M, Muri M, Are C, Goi P, Minn Oo M, Hetzel M.W, Pomat W. Papua New Guinea national health facility survey 2021: availability and quality of malaria case management. Goroka: Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, 2022

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