USAID declares end of malaria control project in Tanzania
USAID Mission Director Craig Hart.. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- USAID facilitated these distributions through mass campaigns in schools and health facilities, targeting vulnerable groups such as infants and pregnant women.
Dar es Salaam. The USAID announced yesterday that the United States President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) Vector Control Project has been completed. Under the four-year project, over 20 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets were distributed across Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, protecting more than 35 million people.
USAID facilitated these distributions through mass campaigns in schools and health facilities, targeting vulnerable groups such as infants and pregnant women.
“The United States’ partnership with Tanzania spans over six decades, and since 2006, PMI has invested over $747 million to combat malaria in Tanzania,” said USAID Mission Director Craig Hart.
“We take pride in the achievements of the PMI Vector Control Project. Although this specific project has ended, our commitment to partnering with the people of Tanzania to address malaria and other public health challenges remains unwavering.”
From 2020 to 2024, the $43 million project, led by the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs in collaboration with Tropical Health LLP and Viamo PBC, supported efforts to protect 90 percent of the population at risk. These efforts targeted 14 high-prevalence regions on the Mainland and all five regions of Zanzibar, covering 57 percent of Tanzania’s population.
Key achievements included strengthening the capacity of Tanzania’s medical supply agencies to manage mosquito net distribution independently, enhancing supply chain logistics with innovative tools and real-time tracking systems, and ensuring the sustainability of malaria prevention initiatives.
USAID’s PMI Resident Advisor Naomi Serbantez emphasized the project’s success in improving household access to mosquito nets and advancing evidence-based malaria control strategies.
By fostering local expertise and leveraging data-driven insights, the project has created a solid foundation for sustained progress in malaria elimination efforts across Tanzania.
