Rolling Malaria Indicator Surveys (rMIS): A Potential District-Level Malaria Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Tool for Program Managers

Arantxa Roca-Feltrer Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Blantyre, Malawi; Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom; College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi

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David G. Lalloo Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Blantyre, Malawi; Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom; College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi

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Kamija Phiri Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Blantyre, Malawi; Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom; College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi

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Dianne J. Terlouw Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Blantyre, Malawi; Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom; College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi

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Novel malaria monitoring and evaluation (M&E) tools are urgently needed to complement the current “gold standard” Malaria Indicator Surveys (MIS). Rapid up scaling of malaria control efforts is resulting in substantial reductions in malaria burden across sub-Saharan Africa. As transmission goes down, timely, accurate, sub-national, and district level burden estimates are needed to guide increasingly targeted control efforts in remaining hotspot areas. To test a novel district level M&E tool, we have conducted a continuous (“rolling”) MIS (rMIS) since May 2010 covering 50 villages in Chikhwawa district in southern Malawi, essentially adapting an existing cross-sectional evaluation tool into a continuous monitoring tool. Here, we report on our experience after completing the first full year of monthly data collection focusing on the methods, operational aspects, and estimated costs of rMIS in a programmatic setting. The potential applicability of this promising M&E approach for district-level program managers and control efforts is discussed.

Author Notes

*Address correspondence to Arantxa Roca-Feltrer, Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Blantyre, Malawi. E-mail: arfeltrer@mlw.medcol.mw

Financial support: We are grateful to the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Medicines for Malaria Venture for supporting this work.

Authors' addresses: Arantxa Roca-Feltrer, Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, Blantyre, Malawi, E-mail: arfeltrer@mlw.medcol.mw. David G. Lalloo and Dianne J. Terlouw, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK, E-mails: dlalloo@liv.ac.uk and dterlouw@liv.ac.uk. Kamija Phiri, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK and College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi, E-mail: kphiri@medcol.mw.

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