Malaria is a major public health problem in  Afar region. All populations residing in Afar are at risk of malaria. African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) is one of the partner organizations engaged in malaria prevention and control efforts by providing technical and logistic support to the region. In 2005, AMREF launched its broad malaria intervention project in Afar region. It was operational in two Zones and 8 Woredas of the region. More than 27% of the total population of Afar (350,000 people) were beneficiaries of the project. The support of AMREF included community mobilization through community volunteers called mother coordinators (MC); insecticide-treated net (ITN) distribution and human capacity building as well as health system strengthening.

The main objective of this final evaluation was to assess whether the project activities were executed as planned and the contributions of the project towards the prevention and control of malaria in Zone three of Afar region. Primarily, a qualitative data collection method was used to gather relevant information from regional and woreda health offices as well as from health facilities. A focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted with the mother coordinators to learn about the community-level activities. High-ranking health officials including the deputy of  Afar Regional Health Bureau (RHB) were interviewed.

This final evaluation of the AMREF malaria project was conducted from September 20 to 24, 2010 in Zone 3 of Afar region which is administratively divided into six Woredas (Awash Fentale, Amibara, Bure-Mudaytu, Gewane, Argoba, and Dulecha) and further subdivided into 49 rural and 14 urban kebeles. The study was conducted in four Woredas of the Zone mainly, Awash Fentale, Amibara, Bure-Mudaytu, and Gewane.

The findings of the evaluation found that most of the activities of the project were successfully accomplished. The evaluation also found that AMREF’s project showed flexibility in responding to the demand of the region by filling gaps in operational cost and malaria supplies. Related to this, procurement and distribution of ITN deserved high recognition. Only a few activities like conducting operational research on RDT and supporting two civil society organizations were not materialized for justifiable reasons. The successful accomplishment of the activities, in turn, led to the achievement of the objectives which significantly contributed to reaching the goal of the project. Research-based findings showed that knowledge of the community about the transmission of malaria, and the utilization of ITNs has increased. Evidence also showed that morbidity and mortality due to malaria have significantly reduced. It was learned that the project has gained wide acceptance by health officials and workers at all levels of the regional health system. The mother coordinator's initiative was the most appreciated approach to reaching the community. However, the mother coordinators could have been trained on the readiness for other infectious diseases in addition to malaria. This would enhance their knowledge to educate and refer patients to health facilities with other diseases like TB.

• AMREF
• Final evaluation
• Afar
• Malaria
• ITN
• mother coordinators
• Focus group discussion
• Zone three
• Regional Health Bureau

No suggested citation.

Implementation of program activities

1. Capacity-building activities

2. IEC/BCC on malaria prevention and control

3. Monitoring and evaluation

4. Operational Research

5. Partnership

6. Outcome

Copy url