New report marks 10 years of transformational seasonal malaria chemoprevention scale up and innovation

A new report has been launched to mark 10 years of the successful implementation of seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) in Africa.

The report, entitled ‘From concept to scale – Celebrating 10 years of seasonal malaria chemoprevention’, was launched on the side of the SMC Alliance’s Annual Meeting in Conakry, Guinea and highlights the progress that has been made in scaling up the intervention since it was first recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2012.

Malaria Consortium led one of the initial pilots of SMC in Katsina state, Nigeria between 2013 and 2014 before leading the catalytic expansion of the intervention across the Sahel region though the Unitaid-funded ACCESS-SMC programme between 2015 and 2017.

Following the end of ACCESS-SMC, Malaria Consortium continued this work and its subsequent SMC programme obtained ‘Top Charity’ status from GiveWell, an independent charity evaluator, due to the effectiveness of the intervention in saving lives. GiveWell's recommendation has resulted in significant philanthropic support for this area of work, enabling its continued scale up. Funding support has also been provided by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Korean International Cooperation Agency. Across this area of work, Malaria Consortium reached 24 million children in 2022, accounting for around half of the global total population reached with SMC.

The report also outlines innovative adaptations that are helping to shape and define the future of SMC implementation. These include studies Malaria Consortium has been conducting in collaboration with the national malaria programmes of Mozambique, Uganda and South Sudan to assess the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of the SMC expansion outside of the Sahel region.

Malaria Consortium’s Chief Executive, Dr James Tibenderana, said: “I am proud of the role Malaria Consortium has played in scaling up SMC over the past decade. Through strong collaboration with national malaria control programmes and donors, we have been able to grow the intervention’s reach consistently and early results from our studies in Mozambique and Uganda show we may be able to reach many more children in the coming years. I pay tribute to the leadership shown by country programmes in reaching the scale we see today, to the SMC Alliance for its role in coordination across all SMC stakeholders and the community distributors who work tirelessly during the distribution campaigns – their commitment is inspiring.”

Download and read the full report on the SMC Alliance website. Available in English, French and Portuguese.