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Filipe Basílio, officer in charge of monitoring and evaluation in Mozambique’s malaria programme in the northern Nampula Province recalls the laborious task of data collection and analysis in his day-to-day work: “All record-keeping tools were manual and it used to take a long time for the data to reach the Ministry, because community distributors had to submit their reports at the end of the day to their supervisor, who would then forward them to the district level, then to the provincial level, and only after that would the Ministry receive the information,” he says.
The country’s Ministry of Health faced an enormous challenge of dealing with large volumes of data from several different areas of its malaria control programme. Health authorities were overwhelmed with large volumes of data from several different sources, making data collection and analysis scattered and slow, and in turn diminishing their ability to rapidly respond to the needs of communities.
To address this challenge, in 2022, the Ministry of Health created a data repository called the Integrated Malaria Information System. By integrating its major data systems – campaign data, supervision data, epidemiological data, and entomological data – and linked them to a visual and user-friendly dashboard, the Ministry could receive data in real-time from the field, improving its quality.
Then, in 2023, the country moved to digitalize malaria campaigns. It started with mosquito net distribution campaigns, then seasonal malaria chemoprevention, and finally indoor residual spraying campaigns. All three are now fully digitalized and integrated. A user can log in and see all campaign information, including coverage and performance, which makes analysis much easier. Results were almost immediate. Campaign duration dropped from 7–14 days to just five.
“We analyse data and know what’s happening in real time,” says Dr Baltazar Candrinho, Director of the National Malaria Control Programme in Mozambique. “We no longer need to wait for someone to report a problem days later. We can track coverage and team performance and monitor stock levels. If a village hasn’t received nets or hasn’t been reached, we know exactly where it is using GPS.”
The ministry trained its staff in all 11 provinces, and they subsequently cascaded the training to community distributors, who conduct interviews and gather data in their communities. The aim is to improve the collection and analysis of data for decision-making at the district level.
“At the central level, we already use these data for decision-making, but districts need to do the same. It’s a process of shifting mindset,” says Dr Candrinho. In terms of collecting, managing and storying data, Mozambique is among the most advanced malaria programmes globally and is one of the only countries to have all three of its malaria campaigns fully digitalized.
“In the first year of introducing digitalization, it was a challenge to find community distributors who were comfortable using mobile devices, as many had limited education,” says Basílio. “But with training, things have changed. Nowadays, people in the community actually ask to become distributors because they’re interested in the digital process.”
Mozambique leads Africa in malaria digitalization, setting a benchmark for regional health innovation. “As we implement the project on advancing development of national malaria data repositories, Mozambique will provide valuable lessons and best practices, guiding what worked and why as we scale to other countries”, say Dr Lawrence Kazembe, team leader for Precision Public Health Programme at the WHO Regional Office for Africa who is implementing similar innovations in other African countries.
Malaria is endemic in Mozambique, accounting for 3.4% of malaria cases globally and is the fifth highest country globally in terms of total case numbers. In 2024, over 11 million cases were reported by the country, placing the entire population at risk, with the highest prevalence of the disease in the north and along the Indian Ocean coast.
In 2024, the country implemented three malaria campaigns using the digital process, a step towards gaining an even more comprehensive understanding of the disease burden, including mortality patterns across all communities within the country.
“Through WHO-led high burden to high impact initiative, we advocated and supported data driven planning and provided frameworks for malaria surveillance, data analytics and advice on how to align data digitalization to decision making processes based on WHO guidelines,” says Dr Eva de Carvalho, medical officer responsible for malaria in WHO Mozambique.
Digitalization uses evidence from multiple information sources to ensure an efficient allocation of resources to the most affected communities and vulnerable populations. It facilitates programme evaluation and improves its performance. It’s an approach the country plans to use for other areas of its health response and this has already begun with the neglected tropical diseases programme. Ultimately, this will have an impact on the health outcomes of the end user – people. “In the end, if we’re more efficient, the community definitely benefits,” says Dr Candrinho.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of WHO Regional Office for Africa.