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Review
. 2022 Jun 1;2(6):e0000462.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0000462. eCollection 2022.

Rethinking integrated service delivery for malaria

Evelyn K Ansah  1 , Corrina Moucheraud  2   3 , Linda Arogundade  4 , Gabriel W Rangel  5
Affiliations
Review

Rethinking integrated service delivery for malaria

Evelyn K Ansah et al. PLOS Glob Public Health. .

Abstract

Despite worldwide efforts and much progress toward malaria control, declines in malaria morbidity and mortality have hit a plateau. While many nations achieved significant malaria suppression or even elimination, success has been uneven, and other nations have made little headway-or even lost ground in this battle. These alarming trends threaten to derail the attainment of global targets for malaria control. Among the challenges impeding success in malaria reduction, many strategies center malaria as a set of technical problems in commodity development and delivery. Yet, this narrow perspective overlooks the importance of strong health systems and robust healthcare delivery. This paper argues that strategies that move the needle on health services and behaviors offer a significant opportunity to achieve malaria control through a comprehensive approach that integrates malaria with broader health services efforts. Indeed, malaria may serve as the thread that weaves integrated service delivery into a path forward for universal health coverage. Using key themes identified by the "Rethinking Malaria in the Context of COVID-19" effort through engagement with key stakeholders, we provide recommendations for pursuing integrated service delivery that can advance malaria control via strengthening health systems, increasing visibility and use of high-quality data at all levels, centering issues of equity, promoting research and innovation for new tools, expanding knowledge on effective implementation strategies for interventions, making the case for investing in malaria among stakeholders, and engaging impacted communities and nations.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. The world’s malaria burden in 2019 (Adapted from the world malaria report 2020).
Fig 2
Fig 2. Malaria as the thread around which service integration can be woven towards Universal Health Coverage.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Sample malaria dashboard based on COVID–19 dashboard data points.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Efficacious interventions lose traction as they “travel” through health systems (Adapted from WHO/TDR implementation research toolkit).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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