PMI Vector Control Project

USAID and its U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative have awarded the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs a five-year, $40-million contract to distribute insecticide-treated mosquito nets to the residents of Tanzania and Zanzibar.

Ninety-three percent of the population in mainland Tanzania and the entire population of Zanzibar live in areas where there is malaria transmission. Under PMI Vector Control Project, CCP and its partners are responsible for ensuring distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets in schools and health facilities in 14 regions of mainland Tanzania and delivery through communities and health facilities in Zanzibar.

The goal is to achieve and maintain at least 80 percent of the population in those areas most affected by malaria to have access to insecticide-treated mosquito nets. The school-based distribution will include an estimated 3.1 million nets in the first year alone, with health facilities distributing another one million or so.

Along with mosquito net distribution, CCP is charged with determining how many nets are needed and how to best deploy them, especially in light of restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. CCP will also be on the lookout for any new advances in malaria vector control and can recommend new approaches to the government of Tanzania.

Mosquito nets on average last about three years before needing to be replaced, so it’s important to have a continuous distribution mechanism to replace nets.

The project will also analyze the potential of creating a commercial mosquito net market. Most of the nets in circulation are provided at no cost to residents through international donors, but there could be an opening for creating nets that people would be willing to buy themselves.