Malaria Consortium

Malaria Consortium is an international non-profit organization specializing in the comprehensive control of malaria and other communicable diseases – particularly those affecting children under five.

Malaria Consortium
Founded2003 (2003)
TypeInternational non-government organisation, NGO
Registration no.Charity (UK) 1099776 Company (UK) 4785712 US EIN Number 98-0627052
FocusMalaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, dengue, malnutrition, neglected tropical diseases
Location
  • The Green House, 244-254 Cambridge Heath Road, London, E2 9DA, United Kingdom
Area served
Africa, Asia
Key people
Wilfred Mbacham, (Chair)
James Tibenderana, (Chief Executive)
Websitemalariaconsortium.org

Established in 2003, Malaria Consortium works in Africa and Asia Pacific with aims to combat malaria and neglected tropical diseases, as well as to improve child health. It is a specialist technical organization that works with governments and partners to strengthen health service delivery.

It headquarters in the United Kingdom, with regional offices in Africa and Asia, and country offices in Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Chad, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, South Sudan, Thailand, Togo, and Uganda.[1][2]

Operations

Malaria and parasite control in general, is central to Malaria Consortium's strategy. It focuses on the prevention, control, diagnosis and treatment of parasitic diseases, including malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea, dengue and neglected tropical diseases. Other operations include enhancement of health systems in the context of neglected tropical diseases, research and monitoring, and national and international advocacy and policy development.  

The organization aims to make healthcare more accessible for communities in Africa and Asia, especially regarding children under five, pregnant women, and migrant populations. The intervention strategy is generally based on integrated community case management and community management of acute malnutrition, or a mix of both. Integrated community case management is an approach encompassing the provision of home based treatment for childhood illnesses, malnutrition or neglected tropical diseases.[3] It implies strengthening the availability and quality of care in the communities. To this end, the Malaria Consortium trains volunteers. As part of its community management of acute malnutrition strategy, the organization also funds health promotion and messaging interventions.

Malaria Consortium's parasite control and prevention strategy includes vector control through long lasting insecticidal nets distribution, indoor residual spraying, education, and data surveillance. Malaria Consortium is for instance leading the Beyond Garki Project, an initiative to collect epidemiological data on the evolution of malaria.[4] They also support seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) campaigns, and are the largest organization running SMC campaigns in the Sahel.[5][6] In this program preventive drugs are given to young children in the form of tablets. The tablets are given to the children during high transmission season. Initially these tablets are distributed to the child by a trained local health worker, and later by the child's caregiver. In addition to providing the drugs, Malaria Consortium helps develop training material as well as training the local staff. Since 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended SMC as a treatment for malaria in Africa's sub-Sahel region.[7]

Malaria Consortium began as a research consortium within the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and was originally funded solely by the UK Department for International Development (DFID, the Overseas Development Administration before 1997). Research remains an important aspect of Malaria Consortium's strategy and the organization publishes research in open access and scholarly journals. For instance, it worked with Cambodian National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control and WHO, contributing on research regarding the use of Guppy Fishes as part of an integrated strategy for dengue control.[8]

Malaria Consortium produces learning materials with the aim to support the advancement of policy and practice.[9] The organization often collaborates with governments on pilot interventions and delivers recommendations based on the findings.[10]

In 2021, Malaria Consortium was awarded independent research organisation (IRO) status by UK Research and Innovation, making it one of only two international non-governmental organizations to hold this status in the UK.[11]

Funding

The majority of Malaria Consortium's work is funded through grants, contracts and consultancy income. This is mainly restricted funding to deliver on a particular project in either a specific country or multiple countries.[12][13]

A substantial portion of global funding available for SMC is GiveWell-directed funding from donors.[14] A 2019 GiveWell report states that 53% of the income for SMC came from donations. Furthermore, 16% came from USAID and 13% from UKAID.[15] Other major funders includes the Global Fund, Project Management Institute, the World Bank, Good Ventures and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[16][17]

Reception

Since 2016, the charity evaluator GiveWell included the SMC program in its list of top 9 charities.[14][18][19][20][21][22]

SMC is the only Malaria Consortium program reviewed by GiveWell and they recommend it based on the program's strong evidence base and cost-effectiveness, in addition to the fact that there is room for more funding. They also have experience with supporting such projects on a large scale in seven countries with a demonstrated success at reaching a large portion of the targeted children.[14]

References
  1. "Malaria Consortium".
  2. Bilberrry. "Malaria Consortium". The Life You Can Save. Retrieved 2020-08-22.
  3. "Integrating severe acute malnutrition" (PDF). Child Health Task Force. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  4. "Business Bulletin No. 64/2014" (PDF). The Scottish Parliament. 2014.
  5. "Group targets malaria prevention in Nigeria, two other countries". 2019-07-30. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  6. Singer, Peter (2019). "Chapter 6". The Life You Can Save (10th anniversary ed.). Bainbridge Island, WA. ISBN 9781733672719.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. "WHO | Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC)". WHO. Archived from the original on May 3, 2014. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  8. BMZ, Healthy DEvelopments Germany's commitment to health and social protection On behalf of. "Guppy Fish reduce dengue fever in rural Cambodia". Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  9. Meek, S.; Hill, J.; Mehra, S. (December 1998). "The malaria consortium: converting expertise and partnerships into operational realities". Parasitology Today (Personal Ed.). 14 (6): 211–212. doi:10.1016/s0169-4758(98)01237-x. ISSN 0169-4758. PMID 17040759.
  10. "Informing policy and practice to improve quality of care for malaria in pregnancy in Uganda". COMDIS-HSD. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  11. "Malaria Consortium | Malaria Consortium awarded prestigious Independent Research Organisation status". Malaria Consortium. Retrieved 2021-06-11.
  12. "Charity overview". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  13. "Malaria Consortium - Annual Reviews Available". www.malariaconsortium.org. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  14. "Malaria Consortium – Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention". GiveWell. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  15. "Malaria Consortium - Trustees' Report and Financial Statements" (PDF). GiveWell. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  16. "OPP1053614". www.gatesfoundation.org. 2001-01-01. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  17. "Africa: Good Ventures, Through Open Philanthropy, Continues Support for Malaria Consortium's Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention Programme". allAfrica.com. 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  18. "Malaria Consortium placed as a GiveWell top charity". Malaria Consortium. November 29, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  19. Dylan Matthews (November 29, 2016). "These are the charities where your money will do the most good". Vox. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  20. "Our Top Charities". GiveWell. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
  21. "Want to donate to charity? Here are 10 guidelines for giving effectively". Vox. 30 November 2020. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  22. Manjoo, Farhad (2021-12-15). "Opinion | How to Know Your Donations Are Doing the Most Good". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-15.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.