On Wednesday 17th April 2024, over 70 researchers, faculty, students and other stakeholders converged at Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH) and online for a research dissemination by Dr. David Musoke, a European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Fellow. The dissemination for the study titled “Integrated malaria prevention in rural communities in Uganda” was chaired by Dr. Aggrey Mukose a lecturer from the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatics at MakSPH.

The dissemination included results from (1) a systematic review on integrated malaria prevention, (2) implementation research on integrated malaria prevention, (3) development of a protocol for a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on integrated malaria prevention, (4) stakeholder engagement and research dissemination, and (5) the training and mentorship in malaria (and public health) research for the EDCTP Fellow.

The research findings showed that the use of multiple malaria prevention methods was effective in reducing malaria occurrence and mosquito density in comparison with single methods. Although facilitators to using multiple methods were found, several barriers to using integrated malaria prevention were identified. These barriers included high cost and perceived negative health effects from some methods. There was also a high willingness of community members to participate in the proposed next steps for a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on integrated malaria prevention. However, the type of methods to be included as well as sustainability mechanisms of this study need to be considered during

The design of the RCT. Indeed, key findings such as malaria prevention methods used, facilitators to use of several malaria prevention methods holistically, and barriers to use of several malaria prevention methods holistically were also presented. The next steps from this study are directed towards designing an optimization trial that intends to deliver the best intervention while considering resource constraints such as money, time and human resources in the fight against malaria. It is worth noting that the EDCTP Fellow was able to undertake 5 trainings as well as participate in 12 webinars and conferences as part of the programme.

“As a public health researcher, you have to invest time to grow your knowledge in the area of your expertise. You cannot be the best in your research if you do not invest time to grow your knowledge. It is only after attending the Introduction to Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) by New York University in 2024 on behaviour change trials that I was able to appreciate how MOST can support the next steps of our malaria research.” said Dr. David Musoke

The project titled: Integrated malaria prevention in rural communities in Uganda: implementation research was implemented in the Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health (DCEH) as part of the EDCTP Career Development Fellowship with funding from the EDCTP2 programme, supported by the European Union (grant number TMA2020CDF-3189) and the Fondation Botnar.
Original article published by Makere University, linked here.