Malaria control and elimination from every angle: Mapping and applying larval source management with Reveal

Malaria control and elimination from every angle: Mapping and applying larval source management with Reveal

By Akros Media on June 25, 2023 in GIS, Malaria, News

Malaria is prevented through use of many tools, one being the management of larval breeding areas, also known as “larval source management” (LSM). The objective of LSM is to reduce the number of mosquito larvae and pupae so as to reduce the potential for malaria transmission.

Today, there is renewed interest in LSM, especially in areas where other interventions may not be as effective—for example where mosquitos are biting outside (versus indoors during sleeping hours when ITNs are most effective) or where insecticide resistance is growing. 

Akros has contributed significantly to geo-enabling disease surveillance and response activities, including malaria interventions. Some of this work has included microplanning and delivery of health campaigns to ensure they achieve the highest coverage for impact. Through this work, Reveal, a digital global good, has been conceived and deployed across 10 countries. The robust Reveal datasets have facilitated enhanced microplanning and analysis of operational and programmatic performance to identify gaps, improve targeting and resource mobilization, and increase vector control coverage over time. 

Luanshya District pushes towards malaria elimination through application of geospatial technologies to guide and deliver malaria interventions

Luanshya District pushes towards malaria elimination through application of geospatial technologies to guide and deliver malaria interventions

By Akros Media on June 25, 2023 in GIS, Malaria, News, Uncategorized

Malaria elimination requires consistent high coverage of effective malaria prevention and treatment interventions—and high coverage is challenging to achieve particularly in developing countries where highly urban or highly rural areas may not have address systems, limited maps, and challenging access due to rains, poor infrastructure, flooding, or severe events or conflict. 

In order for insecticides, such as Fludora Fusion or other chemicals, to most effectively kill mosquitoes and reduce malaria burden, high coverage is required. Envu, in collaboration with Akros and the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) in Zambia conducted an exciting rollout of geospatial planning and delivery of indoor residual spray (IRS) in Luanshya District Zambia during the 2022 spray season. The open source platform, Reveal, was used to support the planning of the campaign, including target areas, households which would be visited and sprayed, as well as the human resources and commodities required to deliver the campaign.

Spray teams, including each team lead, were outfitted with the Reveal application on their smartphones or tablets. Through this application, each team was able to clearly see which settlements in Luanshya District were targeted during microplanning prior to navigating to these areas and could clearly visualize on their phone where they were in relationship to each sprayable structure and whether it had been visited or not. 

Last mile first—the power of geospatial is now in the hands of field teams

Last mile first—the power of geospatial is now in the hands of field teams

By Akros Media on June 4, 2023 in GIS, News

Akros is pleased to announce its successful partnership with Digital Square at PATH in promoting the shelf-readiness of Reveal. Over the last 12 months, efforts have been made to ensure Reveal is scale-ready through delivery of three separate workpackages. First, Reveal is now available for download on the Google Play store—this allows quick over-the-air updates, as well as provides opportunity for new users to install Reveal onto their own mobile devices to prepare for campaign delivery. 

Second, a number of new resources are available for end-users of the platform, particularly training videos on the microplanning module in Reveal, as well as the mobile client and web dashboards. Also, written end-user documentation is available to all—these can be readily accessed through Reveal community resources. And finally, a screencast which shares the benefits of Reveal, and walks interested viewers through the end-to-end platform, where country and local managers develop microplans and then use mobile technology to ensure field teams are not “operating in the dark” but rather understand where they are in relation to all houses and villages requiring each intervention.

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