Malawi
Building the Capacity of Malawi's National Malaria Control Program
One of the keys to the success and sustainability of a national malaria control program (NMCP) is the organizational and management capacity of the program. To address this issue, the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) requested Health Systems 20/20 to develop a systematic method to review the management and organizational capacity of NMCPs, identify the key organizational capacity-building needs, and use the results to develop and implement a capacity improvement plan. PMI asked the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Malawi if it would accept such an activity being carried out there. The MOH gave its formal approval and PMI then fielded a three-person team consisting of two international consultants and a local consultant from January 14-29, 2008.
The review looked at seven capacity-building dimensions relevant to NMCPs. These dimensions served as the basis for structuring the data collection, analysis, and findings.
- Adequacy of the organizational mandate of the NMCP
- Capacity to develop strategies and operational plans
- Adequacy of the organizational structure and staffing including the physical infrastructure to house them
- Effectiveness of leadership and management
- Adequacy of core management systems − financial management, information management, and procurement/logistics
- Ability to coordinate effectively with stakeholders at all levels
- Systems for NMCP staff to keep up to date technically
The review team also surveyed the capacity of local institutions to support the NMNCP.
Demystifying Health Systems: The Health Systems Assessment Approach
Apr 25 20071:00 - 3:00 pm
National Press Club
USAID asked its three major health system strengthening projects (PHRplus/Health Systems 20/20; RPM Plus; and the Quality Assurance Project) to develop a rapid but comprehensive approach to assessing health systems by drawing from their experiences working on different, but complementary components of health systems. The result of this effort is an indicator-based, modular assessment tool—Health Systems Assessment Approach: A How-to Manual. This seminar covered the contents of the manual, the circuitous path to its development, and a range of applications in Angola, Azerbaijan, Benin, Ghana, Malawi, Pakistan, and Yemen.
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