A multiphase program for malaria elimination in southern Mozambique (the Magude project): A before-after study

by Beatriz Galatas, Francisco Saúte, Helena Martí-Soler, Caterina Guinovart, Lidia Nhamussua, Wilson Simone, Humberto Munguambe, Camilo Hamido, Júlia Montañà, Olinda Muguande, Francois Maartens, Fabião Luis, Krijn Paaijmans, Alfredo Mayor, Quique Bassat, Clara Menéndez, Eusebio Macete, Regina Rabinovich, Pedro L. Alonso, Baltazar Candrinho, Pedro Aide

Background

Malaria eradication remains the long-term vision of the World Health Organization (WHO). However, whether malaria elimination is feasible in areas of stable transmission in sub-Saharan Africa with currently available tools remains a subject of debate. This study aimed to evaluate a multiphased malaria elimination project to interrupt Plasmodium falciparum malaria transmission in a rural district of southern Mozambique.

Methods and findings

A before-after study was conducted between 2015 and 2018 in the district of Magude, with 48,448 residents living in 10,965 households. Building on an enhanced surveillance system, two rounds of mass drug administrations (MDAs) per year over two years (phase I, August 2015–2017), followed by one year of reactive focal mass drug administrations (rfMDAs) (phase II, September 2017–June 2018) were deployed with annual indoor residual spraying (IRS), programmatically distributed long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs), and standard case management. The four MDA rounds covered 58%–72% of the population, and annual IRS reported coverage was >70%. Yearly parasite surveys and routine surveillance data were used to monitor the primary outcomes of the study—malaria prevalence and incidence—at baseline and annually since the onset of the project. Parasite prevalence by rapid diagnostic test (RDT) declined from 9.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 7.0–11.8) in May 2015 to 2.6% (95% CI 2.0–3.4), representing a 71.3% (95% CI 71.1–71.4, p p p Conclusion

In this study, we observed that the interventions deployed during the Magude project fell short of interrupting P. falciparum transmission with the coverages achieved. While new tools and strategies may be required to eventually achieve malaria elimination in stable transmission areas of sub-Saharan Africa, this project showed that innovative mixes of interventions can achieve large reductions in disease burden, a necessary step in the pathway towards elimination.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02914145.