Benin

Data, Health Information, and Measurement, Malaria, Pandemic Preparedness and Response

Benin

We have worked in Benin for more than a decade on a range of projects focused on malaria reduction and activities related to leadership, supply chain, case management, and quality assurance at all levels of the health system.

Innovations in Combating Malaria

While the rainy season brings welcome relief to farmers in northern Benin, the wet weather also brings mosquitoes that can spread malaria, which threatens thousands of children in the region. Since 2019, health workers supported by the MSH-led USAID Integrated Health Services Activity have been treating children with seasonal-malaria chemoprevention therapy, which has reduced cases by up to 50%. In 2020, in partnership with Catholic Relief Services, we supported the National Malaria Control Program in launching an offline app to ease data collection, improve accuracy, and facilitate real-time decision making. We assisted local health authorities in implementing COVID-19 preventive measures ahead of the campaign. Using a smartphone and a small solar panel to keep it charged in remote locations, health workers provided treatment to 302,448 children, with 95% receiving all four required rounds.

Overview

We work with local partners to strengthen Benin’s health system with a focus on reducing maternal, newborn, and child mortality and morbidity; strengthening pharmaceutical supply and delivery resilience; and decentralizing accountability for the health system to local communities—those who best understand their needs and are prepared to address them.