Malaria case management commodity supply and use by community health workers in Mozambique, 2017

Community health workers (CHWs) provide preventive care and integrated community case management (iCCM) to people with low healthcare access worldwide. CHW programmes have helped reduce mortality in myriad countries, but little data on malaria supply chain management has been shared. This project evaluated the current composition, use, and delivery of malaria iCCM kit commodities in Mozambique-rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and artemether-lumefantrine (AL) treatments-to better tailor existing resources to the needs of CHWs in diverse practice settings.

Health facilities in Maputo (low malaria burden), Inhambane (moderate), and Nampula (high) Provinces were selected using probability proportionate to the number of CHWs at each facility. All CHWs and their supervisors at selected facilities were interviewed using a structured questionnaire to document experiences with kit commodities. Data were analysed to assess CHW commodity stock levels by province and season.

In total, 216 CHWs and 56 supervisors were interviewed at 56 health facilities. CHWs reported receiving an average of 6.7 kits in the last year, although they are intended to receive kits monthly. One-tenth of CHWs reported receiving kits with missing RDTs, and 28% reported lacking some AL treatments. Commodity use was highest in the rainy season. Stockouts were reported by CHWs in all provinces, more commonly in the rainy season. Facility-level stockouts of RDTs or some AL formulation in the past year were reported by 66% of supervisors. Use of CHW kit materials by health facilities was reported by 43% of supervisors; this was most common at facilities experiencing stockouts.

Variations in geographic and seasonal malaria commodity needs should be considered in CHW kit distribution planning in Mozambique. Improvements in provision of complete, monthly CHW kits are needed in parallel with improvements in the broader commodity system strengthening. The findings of this evaluation can help other CHW programmes determine best practices for management of iCCM supply chains.