Role of Digital Tools in Fighting Malaria at the Community Level

Malaria is highly endemic in Zambia, with the entire population considered to be at risk of contracting the disease. The risk is highest in the wetter, rural provinces of Luapula, Northern, Muchinga, North-Western, and Western, and is lowest in Lusaka and Southern Provinces. Zambia has made significant investments toward expanding coverage of community health workers utilizing the mobile phone–based Malaria Rapid Response (MRR) system for reporting community data into the National Malaria Elimination Program (NMEP) DHIS2 system.

Key digital health recommendations in this profile include setting up an electronic registry of all community health workers and digitizing the whole malaria community case management process from client registration to hospital referral and client follow-up after treatment.