Health
Malaria ... Swaziland

The Malaria Elimination Initiative of the Global Health Group, University of California, San Francisco is proud of what it has done ... but is it really good and is it sustainable

Burgess COMMENTARY
This is a message I have sent to the Malaria Elimination Initiative based in San Francisco, California. I would like to get a reply, but it is not really to be expected since this group and groups like it do not want to address the cost effectiveness question. They talk about 'evidence based' analysis, but ignore both the question of cost effectiveness and the issue of sustainability ... as in what happens when external funding ends as it most certainly will.

'Nancy Fullman, MPH'

Dear Nancy

I am always interested in seeing information about the malaria problem in Africa and around the world, but ALWAYS disappointed because the so called 'evidence based' analysis routinely ignores the key dimension of cost effectiveness, and also misses the question of local sustainability because external funding is unlikely to go on for ever.

My background is a mix of technology, economics and accountancy ... together with some corporate experience, some international development experience. For me the big lesson has been that waste is one of the biggest growth industries over the past 50 years, with waste of money usually ending up making somebody of some group fabulously wealthy. This is facilitated by unbeileivably sloppy accounting and accountability and a total aversion to transparency.

With science and technology so good compared to the not so distant past, the fact of multi-billions in abject poverty, being hungry, diseased and uneducated suggests what we are doing ... and have been doing ... is nowhere as good as it should be.

Thanks ... and best wishes

Peter Burgess

Fullman, Nancy FullmanN@globalhealth.ucsf.edu
Nov 8 (2 days ago)

Hi all,

On behalf of the Global Health Group, it is my pleasure to announce that the Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Progress & Impact Series Report: Focus on Swaziland has been formally launched and is now available online. The report documents Swaziland’s impressive progress toward malaria elimination, a goal that the country aims to reach by 2015 – and thus become the first country in mainland sub-Saharan Africa to achieve this feat. With a 74% reduction in malaria cases between 2000 and 2012 – including a 42% decline just from 2011 to 2012 – Swaziland truly is within the finish line for malaria elimination.

As highlighted by coverage from Global Health Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, Swaziland’s success has been attributed to “evidence-based and strategic scale-up of malaria control interventions, including insecticide-treated nets and indoor residual spraying for at-risk populations; consistent use of malaria diagnostics and first-line drugs for all confirmed cases; harmonization of interventions with Mozambique and South Africa through the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative (LSDI); and effective communications campaigns about optimal behaviors to prevent malaria transmission. As a result, according to the RBM report, an estimated 33,000 malaria cases were successfully averted between 2000 and 2012.”

Swaziland's malaria program has been widely recognized as a global leader in controlling malaria, with its program manager, Simon Kunene, receiving the prestigious 'Healthcare Engagement Strategy 2012 Life Changer' award in February 2012. Kunene was formally presented with this honor at the Swaziland Health and Research Conference on November 8, 2012, at which Swaziland's Minister of Health, the Honorable Benedict Xaba, and RBM Goodwill Ambassador Yvonne Chaka, a world-renowned musician and malaria advocate, officially launched the RBM Focus on Swaziland report.

Researchers from the Global Health Group and the Southern Africa Malaria Elimination Support Team (SAMEST), a partnership between the Global Health Group and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), co-authored the RBM Focus on Swaziland report.

Please feel free to share this report with colleagues and interested partners, and do not hesitate to be in touch with comments or questions.

All the best,

Nancy
______________________
Nancy Fullman, MPH
Program Analyst, Malaria Elimination Initiative
Global Health Group, University of California, San Francisco
50 Beale Street, 12th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: 415.597.8227
Fax: 415.597.8299
Email: FullmanN@globalhealth.ucsf.edu
Skype: nfullman