Malaria

About the program

In 2021, there were approximately 247 million cases of malaria worldwide. Approximately 619,000 people died, most of them were children under the age of five. According to the 2021 World Malaria Report, total global funding for malaria was $3.5 billion, which “fell short of the $7.3 billion estimated to be required to stay on track with the GTS ”.

Our Impact

How We Do It

In FY22, CRS implemented a portfolio of 18 malaria projects in 15 countries, contributing to saving the lives of an estimated 27,000 children under the age of 5, and averting 3.7 million cases of malaria also in children under five through Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) and Insecticide-Treated Net (ITN) campaigns. This work was made possible through support from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Unitaid, the World Bank Group, and other private donors.

CRS is a trusted partner to ministries of health (MoHs) around the world and supports National Malaria Program (NMP) strategies, emphasizing malaria prevention and community and facility case management, through social and behavior change (SBC), quality data for use in decision-making, procurement and supply chain management, and capacity building and advocacy at the national, regional and international levels. CRS promotes evidence-based, high-impact practices while testing innovative responses that can contribute to the evidence base and continuously improve program quality.

CRS’ vast local, national and international network of partners, including faith-based, civil society and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments, universities and research partners, are instrumental in strengthening national health systems. CRS’ expertise lies in improving in-country capacities to provide high-quality, sustainable services and facilitating linkages with communities to ensure prioritization of their needs. CRS has extensive experience assessing institutional capacity and has developed tools—applicable to national, regional, district, facility and community levels of the health system—which underpin targeted technical assistance.

Photo by Guinot, Dominique

Under the Global Fund malaria project for 2018-2020, CRS Nigeria is distributing around 2 million long-lasting insecticidal nets to over 3.9 million beneficiaries in the state of Gombe.

Vector Control

Since 2007, CRS has supported NMP vector control strategies through the distribution of over 200 million ITNs in Cambodia, Ghana, Guinea, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia. CRS supports both mass and routine distributions and assists countries in forecasting and quantifying needs, purchasing and distributing nets, and tracking utilization. CRS programs also embrace alternative ways to distribute ITNs for increased and continued coverage, such as through schools, emergency response programs and communities.

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Projects include:

Niger

As Global Fund PR in Niger since 2008, CRS worked to increase the number of pregnant women and children under five who sleep under a ITN through universal coverage of ITNs. The percentage of pregnant women who slept under ITNs the previous night increased from 7% in 2012 to 90% in 2021, and the percentage for children under five years similarly increased from 7% to 86% over the same period.

The Gambia

In 2019, CRS supported cross border distribution of 990,000 ITNs in The Gambia and 8.5 million ITNs in Senegal with coverage rates of 82% in The Gambia, 92% in Senegal and 84% in border communities. The joint campaign required political commitment, data sharing, expertise sharing, joint logistics and infrastructure, and schedule adjustments. Due to the success of the campaign, The Gambia accelerated its campaign by one year to match Senegal’s schedule.

Mali

Under the Unitaid-funded Advancing Evidence for the Global Implementation of Spatial Repellents (AEGIS) project, led by the University of Notre Dame, CRS and Mali’s Malaria Research Technical Center (MRTC) is leading a randomized control trial in Southern Mali to test the efficacy of a new passive emanating spatial repellent product. In 2023, CRS and its partners are also expected to begin operations research in Northwestern Uganda within refugee settlements and host communities to test the effectiveness of different distribution methods in delivering spatial repellents. Results from these as well as from trials in Kenya and Sri Lanka are expected to influence a WHO policy recommendation on including spatial repellents as an additional intervention in the global malaria prevention toolkit.

Drug-based Prevention

SMC and IPT for Pregnant Women

CRS is a leader in SMC, delivering this life-saving intervention in close collaboration with NMPs through national health systems. Since 2014, CRS has supported nine countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and The Gambia) in the scale-up of SMC. As of the end of 2022, CRS has supported the distribution of SMC to 63 million children under five years. CRS has supported SMC activities even in highly tense, and at times insecure, border districts where extremist groups are present as well as during the Ebola outbreak in Guinea.

CRS works with NMPs to plan and implement successful SMC campaigns. Working with technical working groups, CRS supports countries to conduct formative research and develop or update guidance, plans, training materials, and tools for SMC implementation—applying global guidelines and state-of-the-art practices. CRS assists NMPs to cascade SMC training down to the CHW level and provides longitudinal supervisory support and coaching.

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CRS Supports NMPs to Prevent Malaria During Pregnancy

The Gambia

As local teams prepare to implement campaigns, CRS advises NMPs through iterative micro- and macro-planning exercises, introducing digital registration and tracking systems (developed and used at scale in The Gambia and Benin) and developing SMC dashboards. CRS assists decision-makers to dynamically respond to real-time data and modify plans based on post-campaign routine data quality assessments. This is especially important in unstable areas or those with mobile populations, where many SMC-eligible children reside (e.g., Northern Nigeria, border areas of Niger, Northern Mali). CRS also supports NMPs to address gender-related barriers to effective SMC, including devising outreach strategies that reach mothers and children where they are and ensuring that mothers who need to travel to a fixed distribution point can do so safely.

Guinea

CRS programs support Intermittent Preventive Treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) by collaborating with reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health programs to generate demand for medications, understand barriers to uptake and conduct community distributions, as appropriate. In Guinea, the percentage of pregnant women attending antenatal care who received at least three doses of Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine continues to increase in areas where CRS implements a package of malaria interventions. From January 2018 to December 2019, the percentage increased from 59% to 67%, and to 77% by the end of 2021.

Sierra Leone

CRS has been supporting Sierra Leone’s National Malaria Control Program as co-PR since 2011 through the scale up of a mixed package of social behavior change interventions targeting both the community and health facilities, as well as national and district levels. In Guinea, the percentage of pregnant women attending antenatal care who received at least three doses of Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine continues to increase in areas where CRS and partners implements a package of malaria interventions. Additionally, IPTp3 has increased by over 21 percentage points from 31% in 2016 to 52% in 2021. Other components of the package include uptake of Perennial Malaria Chemoprevention (PMC), sleeping under an ITN, and prompt access to care for febrile children. Overall, this package has contributed to the 50% decrease in malaria prevalence from 42.9% in 2013 to 21.6% in 2021.

Where We Work

Explore the regions where CRS is transforming lives through your generosity. From Africa to Latin America, discover stories of hope and resilience across the globe.

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01/09

Malaria

Malaria

Malaria

Malaria

How We Do It