Over the last decade there has been a dramatic decline in the incidence of malaria and malaria deaths in Myanmar, reflecting significant efforts to eliminate the disease from the region.

However, malaria remains in some regions of Myanmar, particularly in the hilly and forested border regions. The complete elimination of malaria from Myanmar will depend on the ability to detect, treat, and notify cases in a timely way. Presently, malaria control programs use a paper-based reporting system (PBR), whereby Integrated Community Malaria Volunteers (ICMVs) perform malaria testing and record the individual’s information on a paper form. Recently, a mobile phone-based application, the malaria case base reporting tool (MCBR), has been developed which allows ICMVs to report malaria testing results on-the-spot, with the aim of allowing stakeholders’ access to up-to-date data in real-time.

This study will evaluate the quality, effectiveness and applicability of the MCBR tool compared to PBR in order to inform whether MCBR should replace PBR for malaria surveillance in Myanmar. Strengthening the malaria surveillance system in Myanmar will allow more efficient and targeted allocation of resources to help interrupt transmission and achieve total malaria elimination.

Timeline

2019-2020