Search

The Malaria Policy Advisory Committee to the World Health Organization met for the first time from 31 January to 2 February 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland. This article provides a summary of the discussions, conclusions and recommendations from that meeting, as part of the newly launched Malaria Journal thematic series “WHO Malaria Policy Advisory Committee: Reports and Recommendations”. Summaries are provided, referencing the relevant background documents, for the meeting sessions on global malaria control, drug resistance and containment, rapid diagnostic test procurement criteria, larviciding, classification of countries for elimination, estimating malaria cases and deaths, and seasonal malaria chemoprevention. Policy statements, position statements, and guidelines that will arise from the MPAC meeting conclusions and recommendations will be formally issued and disseminated to World Health Organization member states by the World Health Organization Global Malaria Programme.

The Malaria Policy Advisory Committee to the World Health Organization held its fourth meeting in Geneva, Switzerland from 11 to 13 September, 2013. This article provides a summary of the discussions, conclusions and recommendations from that meeting. Meeting sessions included: recommendations for achieving universal coverage of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets; guidance on estimating the longevity of insecticide-treated nets; improving capacity in entomology and vector control; a review of the latest evidence on intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy; improving dissemination of Malaria Policy Advisory Committee guidance; updates on the development of the global technical strategy for malaria control and elimination (2016–2025) and the global strategy for control and elimination of Plasmodium vivax; updates from the drug resistance and containment technical expert group, the evidence review group on malaria burden estimation, a consultation on malaria case management indicators, and the constitution of the surveillance, monitoring and evaluation technical expert group; subnational elimination criteria; and consideration for future evidence review groups, including diagnosis in low transmission settings and testing for Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Deficiency. Policy statements, position statements and guidelines that arise from the Malaria Policy Advisory Committee meeting conclusions and recommendations will be formally issued and disseminated to World Health Organization Member States by the World Health Organization Global Malaria Programme.

Background: Community health workers (CHWs) are an increasingly important component of health systems and programs. Despite the recognized role of supervision in ensuring CHWs are effective, supervision is often weak and under-supported. Little is known about what constitutes adequate supervision and how different supervision strategies influence performance, motivation, and retention.Objective: To determine the impact of supervision strategies used in low- and middle-income countries and discuss implementation and feasibility issues with a focus on CHWs.Design: A search of peer-reviewed, English language articles evaluating health provider supervision strategies was conducted through November 2013. Included articles evaluated the impact of supervision in low- or middle-income countries using a controlled, pre-/post- or observational design. Implementation and feasibility literature included both peer-reviewed and gray literature.Results: A total of 22 impact papers were identified. Papers were from a range of low- and middle-income countries addressing the supervision of a variety of health care providers. We classified interventions as testing supervision frequency, the supportive/facilitative supervision package, supervision mode (peer, group, and community), tools (self-assessment and checklists), focus (quality assurance/problem solving), and training. Outcomes included coverage, performance, and perception of quality but were not uniform across studies. Evidence suggests that improving supervision quality has a greater impact than increasing frequency of supervision alone. Supportive supervision packages, community monitoring, and quality improvement/problem-solving approaches show the most promise; however, evaluation of all strategies was weak.Conclusion: Few supervision strategies have been rigorously tested and data on CHW supervision is particularly sparse. This review highlights the diversity of supervision approaches that policy makers have to choose from and, while choices should be context specific, our findings suggest that high-quality supervision that focuses on supportive approaches, community monitoring, and/or quality assurance/problem solving may be most effective.Keywords: supervision; community health worker; lay health worker; health worker; low-income country; developing country; ICCM(Published: 8 May 2014)Citation: Glob Health Action 2014, 7: 24085 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/gha.v7.24085

The Malaria Policy Advisory Committee to the World Health Organization met in Geneva, Switzerland from 13 to 15 March, 2013. This article provides a summary of the discussions, conclusions and recommendations from that meeting. Meeting sessions included: a review of the efficacy of artemisinin-based combination therapy in Guyana and Suriname; the outcomes from a consultation on non-malaria febrile illness; the outcomes from the second meeting of the Evidence Review Group on malaria burden estimation; an update on the review of the WHO Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria; an update regarding progress on the constitution of the vector control Technical Expert Group; updates on the RTS, S/AS01 vaccine and the malaria vaccine technology roadmap; financing and resource allocation for malaria control; malaria surveillance and the need for a surveillance, monitoring and evaluation Technical Expert Group; criteria and classification related to malaria elimination; the next meeting of the Evidence Review Group on Intermittent Preventive Treatment in pregnancy; an update on the soon-to-be launched Elimination Scenario Planning Tool; and an update on the process for the Global Technical Strategy for Malaria Control and Elimination (2016–2025). Policy statements, position statements, and guidelines that arise from the MPAC meeting conclusions and recommendations will be formally issued and disseminated to World Health Organization Member States by the World Health Organization Global Malaria Programme.

The Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) Consultative Group on Monitoring, Evaluation, and Surveillance present a research and development agenda for the tools required to monitor and evaluate progress toward malaria eradication., Monitoring, evaluation, and surveillance measure how well public health programs operate over time and achieve their goals. As countries approach malaria elimination, these activities will need to shift from measuring reductions in morbidity and mortality, to detecting infections (with or without symptoms) and measuring transmission. Thus, the monitoring and evaluation and surveillance research and development agenda needs to develop the tools and strategies that will replace passive surveillance of morbidity with active and prompt detection of infection, including confirmation of interruption of transmission by detecting present and past infections, particularly in mobile populations. The capacity to assess trends and respond without delay will need to be developed, so that surveillance itself becomes an intervention. Research is also needed to develop sensitive field tests that can detect low levels of parasitaemia, together with strategies for their implementation. Other areas to explore include the rigorous evaluation of the utility of more detailed maps of disease and infection incidence and prevalence, the development of new maps to inform programmatic responses and the use of surveillance technologies based on cell phone or real-time internet Web-based reporting. Because any new strategies for monitoring and evaluation and surveillance for eradication have major implications for program implementation, research is also needed to test systems of delivery for acceptability, feasibility, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and community engagement. Finally, there is a clear need to systematically review the information from past elimination efforts for malaria and other infectious diseases.

CONTEXT: Abnormal homocysteine metabolism may contribute to increased cardiovascular death in type 1 diabetes (T1DM). Amino acid metabolism is altered in T1DM. In vitro, insulin reduces hepatic catabolism of homocysteine by inhibiting liver transsulfuration. It remains to be determined whether methionine-homocysteine metabolism is altered in T1DM. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether insulin deficiency during insulin deprivation or high plasma insulin concentration after insulin treatment alters homocysteine metabolism in T1DM. DESIGN: This was an acute interventional study with paired and comparative controls. SETTING: The study was conducted at a general clinical research center. PATIENTS AND INTERVENTION: We used stable isotope tracers to measure methionine-homocysteine kinetics in six patients with T1DM during insulin deprivation (I-) and also during insulin treatment (I+) and compared them with nondiabetic controls (n = 6). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Homocysteine kinetics (transmethylation, transsulfuration, and remethylation) were from plasma isotopic enrichment of methionine and homocysteine and (13)CO(2). RESULTS: T1DM (I-) had lower rates of homocysteine-methionine remethylation (P < 0.05 vs. control and I+). In contrast, transsulfuration rates were higher in I- than controls and I+ (P < 0.05). Insulin treatment normalized transsulfuration and remethylation (P < 0.05 vs. I- and P > 0.8 vs. control). Plasma homocysteine concentrations were lower in T1DM (P < 0.05 vs. control during both I- and I+), which may be explained by increased homocysteine transsulfuration. Thus, significant alterations of methionine-homocysteine metabolism occur during insulin deprivation in humans with T1DM. CONCLUSIONS: Insulin plays a key role in the regulation of methionine-homocysteine metabolism in humans, and altered homocysteine may occur during insulin deficiency in type 1 diabetic patients.

In human protein turnover studies with isotopically labeled leucine (Leu) as a tracer, plasma ketoisocaproate (KIC) enrichment is extensively used as a surrogate measure of intracellular leucine enrichment. To test how accurately arterial ketoisocaproate (A-KIC) represents leucine isotopic enrichment in the hepatic (HV) and femoral veins (FV), which drain liver and muscle beds, we measured Leu and KIC enrichments in samples collected from HV, FV, and femoral artery (A) in 24 control and 6 type I diabetic subjects after a primed, continuous infusion ofl-[1-13C,15N]-Leu. Studies were performed during insulin deprivation or insulin replacement in the diabetic group, whereas the effect of normal saline or three different doses of insulin infusion (0.25, 0.50, and 1 mU ⋅ kg−1⋅ min−1) were assessed in healthy controls. The ratios of baseline isotopic enrichments of A-KIC to HV Leu and FV Leu were 0.93 ± 0.01 and 0.94 ± 0.02, respectively, in normal subjects and 1.07 ± 0.04 and 1.05 ± 0.03, respectively, in diabetic subjects ( P < 0.01, diabetic vs. normal subjects). Insulin did not change A-KIC-to-HV Leu ratios in either group, but the A-KIC-to-FV Leu ratio decreased during insulin infusion in normal subjects ( P < 0.05). In conclusion, A-KIC represents a reliable surrogate measure of HV Leu enrichment at different levels of circulating insulin in humans. The present data support the use of A-KIC as a surrogate precursor pool for hepatic protein synthesis.