Two large-scale projects, funded by the Gates Foundation, the first focused on increasing the efficiency of mass campaign ITN distribution and the second on increasing the reach of ITN distributions, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, are described here.
ITN Campaign Efficiency Project
This three-year (2021—2024) project addressed challenges identified by national malaria programmes, technical, financial and implementing partners related to sustaining ITN access and use in the long term. The seven workstreams focused on improving the quality of different aspects of ITN campaign distribution, including ITN quantification, household registration, digitalization, multi-product distributions, and sustaining access and use.
Optimizing ITN Access in Africa (OPITACA)
This three-year (2023—2026) project focuses on five workstreams based on identified gaps, with the broad objectives of increasing the accuracy and use of data and leveraging digital tools for improving the effectiveness and reach of ITN distributions in Africa. Work is also ongoing on managing waste generated by ITN distributions and capacity-building and mentoring of national malaria programmes.