Mali

Mali’s first ever insectary in a box.

Malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Mali. Approximately, 1 in 5 children die before their fifth birthday. Mali’s Ministry of Health reported that in 2011 the disease accounted for 41% of all outpatient visits and half of outpatient visits among children under 5.

Indoor Residual Spraying Areas

IRS remains one of the key malaria control interventions within Mali. The President’s Malaria Initiative began supporting IRS in Mali in 2008 in Bla and Koulikoro districts. In 2010, due to the Ministry of Health’s interest in IRS, PMI expanded the program to a third district, Baroueli. AIRS Mali is spraying in Baroueli, Bla, and Koulikoro districts in 2012, 2013, and 2014. In 2015,

In 2015 AIRS Mali aimed to reduce malaria-associated morbidity and mortality in Baroueli and Koulikoro districts through IRS. AIRS Mali conducted timely spray quality tests that indicated almost 100 percent mortality within 24 hours after spraying and continues to collect data on monthly insecticide residual life.

AIRS Mali has designed an electronic system to better manage insecticide inventory. The system, known as the “e-inventory”, is an Access-based database that provides a daily balance of all insecticides located in all secondary stores and two central warehouses. On a daily basis, secondary storekeepers send an evening balance of insecticide in stock to a central warehouse manager, who enters the information in the database and reviews the daily balances against the targets established. The AIRS Mali team in Bamako has full remote access to the database and can monitor the levels of stocks and daily usage, which will help with overall management of spray operations. The team began using it in the Koulikoro region in 2013 and extended it to Baroueli in 2014.

The e-inventory system impacts IRS management at two levels. At the central warehouse level, complete information on the insecticide helps the managers to avoid stock-outs and to timely dispatch additional insecticide to the secondary stores as needed. Automated purchase orders and release forms expedite the process. At the country program level, it helps the program managers to monitor the overall status of insecticide inventory and report projected shortages to the PMI AIRS Project home office.

Impact

Preventing malaria is essential to improving the health, education, and well-being of people in Mali.

Controlling malaria can prevent loss of income that occurs when a family member dies from malaria or misses work due to illness. In Africa, malaria costs $12 billion each year in lost economic productivity.

When children are healthy, they are more likely to attend school. Malaria causes 3-8% of all cause school absenteeism and up to 50% of readily preventable school absenteeism in Africa.

Globally, indoor residual spraying campaigns contribute to Millennium Development Goals 1 (eradicating extreme poverty and hunger), 4 (reduce child mortality), 5 (improve maternal health), and 6 (combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases).

Read the Mali PMI Country Profile to learn more.