MACEPA has played a central role in supporting Zambia's Ministry of Health and its Roll Back Malaria (RBM) partners to conceptualize, design, and implement the Ministry’s malaria control scale-up plans for achieving impact. In early 2006, this collaboration led to the launch of the 2006–2010 National Malaria Strategic Plan and three-year implementation plan, which set out ambitious targets and actions necessary for significantly reducing malaria’s devastating burden by 2010. Discussions to begin the next five-year planning cycle are already under way, informed by the impressive results from the 2008 malaria indicator survey. Strategic and implementation plans are available for download from the National Malaria Control Centre's website.

MACEPA continues to support the Ministry of Health and its partners in the development of Zambia’s coordinated annual action plans for scale-up of malaria control. The planning processes that took place for 2007 and 2008 action involved an uncommon degree of partner participation and commitment over a period of several weeks.

Priority issues outlined in the 2008 National Malaria Action Plan include increasing the number of people sleeping under insecticide-treated nets, improving prompt and effective management of malaria cases, and increasing the number of women who have access to a package of interventions to reduce the burden of malaria during pregnancy. Zambia and its RBM partners are preventing death and illness, stabilizing families, and strengthening communities.

Photo: Paul Libiszowski.