Global Fund Mass LLIN Campaign in Nigeria and The Gambia
MLC Vanguard | Created by Catholic Relief Services
Our innovation utilized digital tracking and monitoring all the way to the individual household level, which gave us real time visibility into program operations, bringing greater accountability and precision in mass bed net distribution campaigns that took place in Nigeria, The Gambia, and most recently, Benin.
52,157,817 Lives Impacted
A vital strategy for malaria prevention is the distribution of LLINs. LLINs are the simplest and most effective way to prevent malaria. Families receive one net for every 1.8 persons. Behavior change communication campaigns after mass net distributions ensure that households consistently use the nets in the right way. Bed nets form a protective barrier around people sleeping under them. However, bed nets treated with an insecticide are much more protective than untreated nets. The insecticides that are used for treating bed nets kill mosquitoes, as well as other insects.
To determine the impact of technology, the study compared the cost of traditional, paper-based implementations in the two states of Edo and Osun and the cost of digital implementation in Kastina state. The results showed that using technology increased the rate of net pick-up, or redemption, significantly. By using technology to reduce walking and wait times, sending reminders, tracking household follow-ups, and identifying areas previously missed, the digital implementation had a higher impact as more people received a net. Ultimately, the cost of families falling ill, and missing work is higher than the cost of using technology. This held true in other states. When comparing how many people receive a net via paper-based distribution versus a digitally managed distribution, the value of the number of people receiving a net and the costs avoided by prevent malaria, far outweighs the cost of using technology.
The Innovation
In Nigeria, CRS partnered with the National Malaria Elimination Program to introduce mobile technology to distribute 13.6 million LLINs through mass campaigns across four states (Ogun, Jigawa, Katsina, Gombe) in 2018. The system provides real-time data to better manage distributions and ensures nets reach the right people. In Gombe state, CRS distributed 2 million LLINs at 868 locations in less than one week, achieving a redemption rate of 98.5%. By employing a GIS-enabled mobile platform called Cash and Asset Transfer (CAT), technology also increases assurance that goods can reach the intended individuals. During 2018 CRS used CAT to distribute more than 13.6 million long lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets to 6 million households in Nigeria via distribution points. 54,000 household mobilizers were trained to use CAT. Program teams used CAT — and over 6,000 smartphones — to track training attendance of household mobilizers, register households, manage distributions, and monitor coverage. This improved accountability, data quality, and reduced the time required for household registration and LLIN distributions.
In the Gambia in 2014, CRS supported the Gambia’s National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) in distributing long-lasting insecticidal nets throughout the country. Using tablets with configurable electronic forms, CRS program staff delivered and accounted for 971,665 LLINs in four weeks! CRS used tablets configured with a cloud-based mobile data collection platform, to streamline household registration, LLIN tracking, and distribution via distribution points. Program staff registered eligible recipients using electronic forms that recorded the location and the number of LLINs needed per household. This information was used to load delivery trucks, ensuring that the right type and number of nets were sent to the right place at the right time. Unique bar-coded vouchers (one per net) were issued to the head of household. During distribution, vouchers were redeemed by scanning bar codes into the system, which sent the data to a remote server for processing. In areas with no internet access, the data was stored on the tablets until it could be uploaded. The data was exported to an online platform that enabled staff to create reports, charts and dashboards for easy analysis.
About Catholic Relief Services
Catholic Relief Services was founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States to serve World War II survivors in Europe. Since then, we have expanded in size to reach more than 130 million people in more than 100 countries on five continents.
For over 75 years, our mission has been to assist impoverished and disadvantaged people overseas, working in the spirit of Catholic social teaching to promote the sacredness of human life and the dignity of the human person. Although our mission is rooted in the Catholic faith, our operations serve people based solely on need, regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity. Within the United States, CRS engages Catholics to live their faith in solidarity with the poor and suffering people of the world.
