Zambia

Local radio station used for IRS messaging. Photo Credit: Lena Kolyada

Malaria transmission in Zambia occurs throughout the year with the peak during the rainy season, between November and April. Despite documented improvements in preventing malaria, the disease continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Zambia.

Indoor residual spraying (IRS) in Zambia began in 2003, following the success of IRS by the private sector at the Konkola Copper Mines. Currently, the National Malaria Control Centre of the Ministry of Health is implementing IRS for malaria control as part of an integrated vector management strategy.

The President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) began supporting IRS in Zambia in 2008 and expanded the program the following year. In 2010, the National Malaria Control Centre (NMCC), with PMI support, expanded IRS to cover a total of 1.3 million structures in 54 districts, representing 75% of the districts in the country and protecting over 6 million people.

Indoor Residual Spraying Areas

AIRS implements IRS in a few provinces in eastern and northern Zambia where parasite prevalence in young children continuously exceeds 20% at the peak of the transmission season. In 2013, AIRS implemented IRS in 20 districts, in 2014 AIRS is expanding to 29 districts.

In 2014 and 2015, IRS was implemented under The PMI AIRS Project. AIRS Zambia assisted NMCC on all IRS components including operations, planning, spraying, supervision, and M&E. Working with government counterparts, the project sprayed in 40 districts of five provinces in 2014 and 39 districts in the same five provinces in 2015. Working with government counterparts, the project sprayed in 40 districts of five provinces in 2014 and 39 districts in the same five provinces in 2015. Each year, AIRS Zambia has protected more than 2 million people. The project continues to build capacity at the national, provincial, district, and community levels to implement IRS with high quality. AIRS Zambia also monitors the impact of IRS operations on selected entomological indicators and collects data on insecticide resistance.

Impact

IRS and other malaria control initiatives have made remarkable gains in the fight against malaria. From 2006 to 2009 all-cause mortality rates for children under five in Zambia have decreased by 29%, according to the 2012 Malaria Indicator Survey. The same report indicated that in 2012, 74 percent of households are covered with at least one ITN or recent IRS. Percentage of households received IRS in the last 12 months increased from 10%t in 2006 to 25% in 2012.

Read the Zambia PMI Country Profile to learn more.