A malaria elimination officer shares her expertise to strengthen informed decision-making for malaria programs.
“Mentorship, mentorship, mentorship. I really love it and that keeps me going. My goal is for community health workers, facility staff, and myself, as well, to have standard, good quality data that we can use for decision making.”
— Francisca Mubanga, Malaria Elimination Officer, Senga District, Northern Province, Zambia
As Malaria Elimination Officer for Senga District in Zambia, Francisca Mubanga provides the mentoring, tools, and technical support that the district’s hospital, more than 50 health facilities, and approximately 280 community health workers need to keep advancing towards malaria control and elimination.
With the support of the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), Francisca received training in data management and quality, data visualization, and data use for decision making. She now uses her skills to provide mentorship, training, and supervisory support to community health workers and health facilities in Senga.
“It has given me a good perception on how I can go to a community and help them understand what we’re trying to fight and involve them in what we are trying to achieve at the end of the day – a malaria-free Senga district,” said Francisca. “It’s quite encouraging that community health workers and facility staff are now understanding malaria data and are able to make decisions just based on what they have in front of them,” said Francisca.
Data reported into the national health information system by districts like Senga are used by decision makers and partners to guide malaria policy, funding, and strategies. As a result, it’s essential that the data reported into the system are error-free and accurately reflect what’s happening in the communities. Thanks to data quality strengthening efforts by officers like Francisca, the Senga District Health office reduced data errors reported into the national health information system by more than 60 percent between 2022 and 2023.
Through strong partnerships across all levels of the health system, PMI-funded PAMO Plus works to improve malaria prevention, detection, and treatment in Zambia’s Eastern, Luapula, Muchinga, and Northern Provinces.
Cover photo: Francisca Mubanga from the Senga District Health provides mentoring and technical support to community health workers, and hospital and health facility staff in Senga district, Zambia. Photo: PMI PAMO Plus/Augustine Chinyama