Women play a central role in global efforts to end malaria. PATH Malaria is pleased to spotlight three women whose dedication, expertise, and commitment to malaria elimination efforts is improving lives and livelihoods for communities in Zambia.
Shortening the distance to health
Margret Chalo and Annie Mwale, data community health workers (CHWs) supported by the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) PAMO Plus program in Petauke, Zambia, are driven by their desire to see their communities free from malaria.
“I want to eliminate malaria,” said Margret. “The work I do is important to me and the community so that people do not have to cover a long distance to go to the health facility to be tested for malaria.”
“The health facility is far, so we help the community members,” agreed Annie. “I want to eliminate malaria in my community. We help to save lives, and when we help people, they are happy.”
Data community health worker Annie Mwale tests a child for malaria in Petauke district, Zambia. Annie is responsible for recording results of malaria tests she conducts, as well as for aggregating data from four other CHWs. Photo: PATH/Mukomela Banda.
As members of the communities they serve, CHWs can meaningfully connect with the people receiving health services, speak the local language, and communicate the importance of interventions deployed within the community. In many malaria-endemic areas, women CHWs are further uniquely positioned to help reach other women and children with health services, who may be out of reach of male health workers due to cultural, social, and gender norms.
CHWs are also key to gathering quality data that help national malaria programs identify and address the specific challenges faced at the community level. Margret and Annie are responsible for extending essential malaria services to members of their communities—this includes testing for malaria and treating or referring positive cases to the health center.
As data CHWs, they also play a crucial role in maintaining malaria data quality. They aggregate reports from other CHWs, ensuring that malaria data reported to the central health system are complete, accurate, and reported on time and at the right frequency.
Data community health worker Annie Mwale with Zenayida Banda. Photo: PATH/Mukomela Banda.
CHWs are the backbone of the malaria fight, serving as an important bridge between communities and higher levels of the health system and helping extend access to health services into remote or otherwise inaccessible communities. Their work ensures that no one in their community is left behind in efforts to eliminate malaria, the heaviest burden of which rests on women and children.
Providing mentorship and support to end malaria
As a Zambia National Malaria Elimination Centre Malaria Elimination Officer for Senga District in Zambia’s Northern Province, Francisca Mubanga is responsible for providing the capacity building and strengthening tools and technical support that the district’s hospital, 51 health facilities, and 279 CHWs need to stay on track towards malaria control and elimination.
“My job is to supervise and undertake malaria control and elimination services so as to eliminate malaria and prevent reintroduction in the district,” said Francisca.
Francisca has a range of responsibilities that help improve malaria prevention, detection, treatment, and data in Senga District, but her favorite parts of her job are working with data and providing mentorship to health facility workers and CHWs in her district.
“Mentorship, mentorship, mentorship. I really love it and that keeps me going,” said Francisca. To be as effective as she can be at both roles, Francisca has done extensive work to strengthen her own knowledge base and skill set.
“We have partners like PMI PAMO Plus that are focused on improving data accuracy by strengthening data quality capacity, and I can say I have benefitted a lot,” said Francisca.
With the support of PMI PAMO Plus, she has received training in data management and quality, data visualization, and data use for decision-making. She now uses the skills she has developed to provide mentorship, training, and supervisory support to community health workers and health facilities in her district.
Malaria Elimination Officer Francisca Mubanga works with Zambia's National Malaria Elimination Centre and PMI PAMO Plus to provide training, tools, and technical support to health workers in Senga District, Zambia. Photo: PATH/Augustine Chinyama.
“It has given me a good perception of how I can go to a community and help them understand what we’re trying to fight and involve them in what we are trying to achieve at the end of the day–a malaria-free Senga District,” she said.
Thanks to Francisca’s efforts, facility staff and CHWs in Senga District are better equipped to understand the state of malaria in their area and leverage the data they’ve gathered to make informed decisions on how they deliver services.
“It's quite encouraging that CHWs and facility staff are now understanding malaria data and are able to make decisions just based on what they have in front of them.”
From CHWs to policymakers, researchers to community leaders, women like Margret, Annie, and Francisca are driving progress against malaria around the world. We are proud to work with and support these women and many more without whom the fight to end malaria would not be possible.
