Volume 10 Issue 4 - Asian Collaborative Training Network for Malaria

11/f Ramon MagsaysayCenter, 1680 Roxas Blvd.,Malate, Manila, PhilippinesACTMalaria NewsVolume 10, Issue 4September-October 2007The Official Newsletter of the Asian Collaborative Training Network for MalariaISSN 1564-1333Moving Forward with Fresh New TrainersINSIDE THIS ISSUE:4th TTT Course 13rd NationalMMFO Trainingheld in Palawan /Vanessa UlatBrief Report onthe External MicroscopyAssessment23Photo Gallery 4SeMiNaRs / MeETinGsInternationalColloquiumIn Mekong MalariaHanoi3-5 December 2007Participants of the Transfer of Training Technology (TTT) Course held at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysiasuccessfully finished their training last August 19, 2007. A total of 20 delegates from eight (8)member countries attended the training. National Malaria Control Programmes are now doingtheir project proposal as part of their commitment for malaria control strategy. Meanwhile, microscopyexternal competency assessments from China and Bangladesh has finished successfullywith Mr. Ken Lilley as Assessment Facilitator and Mr. Sherwin Galit as his assistant. NationalMMFO of Malaysia and Philippines has also ended very well.4th Transfer of Training Technology Coursehe fourth Transfer of Training Technology (TTT) Course held at PearlInternational Hotel, Kuala Lumpur from July 22—August 19, 2007 successfullyT produced 20 new graduates. The purpose of the course is to develop trainingteams who will be able to improve the planning, implementation, developmentand follow-up of national courses and international ACTMalaria courses that addressdefined needs for improving malaria control.Among the facilitators were Dr. Azmi Hashim, Ms Mastura Mohd Hashim, Dr.Shanmuga Ratnam, Mr Asmad Matusop, Mr. S. Aparow, Dr. Norhayati bte Saad and MsSharifah Milkah. The trainer is Ms. Thada Bornstein, the Director for Training, QuallityAssurance Project, Center for Human Service, USA.Before the end of the course, a lecture on ACTMalaria Information ResourceCenter (AIRC) was presented by Mr. Joseph Yap. This was in relation to the advocacy andpromotional activity in information resource sharing. AIRC aims to pool resources frommember countries to strengthen information exchange.The closing ceremonies was graced by the CCD Dr. Socheat, Vice-Director ofCNM Dr. Chea Nguon, Dr. Rohani Ahmad of IMR and Ms. Cecil Hugo who also served aspanel of external reviewers during the project presentation. TTT was organized by VectorBorne Disease Section of the Ministry of Health, Malaysia.http://www.itg.be/colloq2007————————14 th South-WestPacific MalariaMeetingMadang, Papua NewGuinea9-11 October 2007Meeting Objective:Review the currentmalaria situation in theSouth West PacificAback-to-back training workshopalongside with the InternationalColloquium in Hanoi this Decemberwill be emerging. A training workshopon Pharmaceutical Managementwith the technical expertise ofMSH will be held in Hanoi beforethe end of this year.Got a resource material? Share it with us. Drop by at http://resource.actmalaria.net.

PAGE 2PAST ACTIVITY3 rd National MMFO Training held in PalawanBy Vina Vanessa Luna Ulat, TDFThe 3 rd National Training Course on Malaria Control for Mid-Level Public Health Managers held last April23 to May 11, 2007 attended by 23 local and foreign participants was a huge success. The three-week intensivetraining course equivalent to Management of Malaria Field Operations trainings in Asia, administered bythe Asian Collaborative Training Network for Malaria (ACTMalaria) held its first seven days in BayviewPark Hotel Manila and its field application in Palawan. The objective of the course is to develop the capacityof mid-level Malaria Control Program (MCP) managers on programme planning, implementation, and monitoringand evaluation.The third batch is composed of 14 regional and provincial Malaria Control Program Coordinators, 9Global Fund PR representatives and 2 MCP implementers from the Solomon Islands. The training facultycomposed of core facilitators and resource persons come from the Department of Health (DOH), ACTMalariaand World Health Organization (WHO). The faculty is headed by Dr. Ma. Cristina Galang, NationalMalaria Coordinator with Dr. Gil dela Cruz, Provincial Malaria Coordinator-Laguna, as the course coordinator.Participants are grouped into three on the first day. The 3-week training consists of two phases, eachphase further divided into blocks, which provided theoretical and practical application through demonstrationsand field practice. Course assessment is done after each block. The first phase includes topics on foundationskills, learning styles, life cycle of malaria, and its transmission and control. On the other hand, secondphase provided more interesting courses on global and national strategies for malaria control, sessions on socialmobilization, management and planning, and practical course through field work. Group presentationsand outputs from each topic used analytical and critical approach that measure capacity development andcharacter as well.According to Cecil Hugo, Executive Coordinator of ACTMalaria, the training curriculum is competency-basedwhich well suits the participants. She describes this year’s set of participants as very heterogeneousin terms of age, educational and professional background, working environment and levels of implementationof malaria control programme.The three highly endemic municipalities of Palawan namely Bataraza, Brooke’s Point and Españolawere the selected sites for the applied field study part of the training. A written monitoring report is expectedfrom each group and presentation of data collected is attended by members of Kilusan Ligtas Malaria (KLM),provincial project implementers and most especially Dr. Jun Palanca, the Provincial Health Officer of Palawan.General findings from the field visit include difficulties on programme implementation and weak monitoringactivity brought about by prevailing topography, and unavailability of anti-malarial drugs and irregular vectorcontrol activities at peripheral areas due to poor accessibility and insufficient funds. The participants were ableto apply what they have learned by providing recommendations on strategic planning and monitoring, and implementationof effective vector control. Participants are viewed to be optimistic about malaria-free Palawan asthey have discovered decreasing number of cases in the province brought about by continuous help from NGOs,although the number of cases is still high.The 3-week training has been successful to produce 23MMFO graduates along with the newly establishedcircle of friends that resulted from immense camaraderieamong the participants and the numerous birthdaycelebrations during the training.• Ms. Ulat is from Project and Monitoring Evaluation,Operational Research, GF Malaria Project,TDFI. Email: vvulat@tdf.org.ph.ACTMalariaShare your views. Speak-out. Visit our Forum: http://forum.actmalaria.net.

PAGE 3RECENTLY CONCLUDEDBrief report on the External Competency Assessment onmalaria microscopy in China and BangladeshMalaria diagnosis relies dependently on its blood filmexaminers known as malaria microscopists. Accuratedetection in malaria microscopy is important for diagnosingmalaria cases which causes mortality andmorbidity in man.WPRO and SEARO, in coordination with ACTMalaria,collaborated to develop a bi-regional network to supportCompetency Assessment/Quality Assurance for malariamicroscopy.The 18th and 19th planned series of assessment successfullyhappened in China and Bangladesh respectively. Thiswas the first assessment for both countries.ChinaThe place of assessment occurred in Shanghai, China,National Institute of Parasitic Diseases from 9 to 13 July2007. An ACTMalaria Alumni and ‘expert’ in Filipino malariamicroscopy Mr. Sherwin Galit, from the ResearchInstitute for Tropical Medicine, Philippines, assisted Mr.Ken Lilley, the Assessment Facilitator from AustralianArmy Malaria Institute. Mr. Lilley is a Quality Manager andScientist.Of the 11 participants, one was regarded as ’expert.’ Shewas Ms. Lin Cuifen of Hainan CDC.BangladeshThe place of assessment occurred in Dhaka, Institute ofEpidemiology, Disease Control and Research from July16-19 2007. Pre-workshop theory tests were used to calculatethe general knowledge of every participant. Mr.Lilley facilitated the assessment.Of the twelve participants, one was regarded as ‘expert’and she was Ms. Altafun Nahar of CMRL, DGHS.It was stated that participants from both countries exhibiteda strong desire for further training and instruction beyondthe scope and duration of the assessment workshop.Mr Lilley acknowledges the support of Dr. Guan Yayi ofChina and Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam of Bangladesh for helpinghim in the preparation of this external assessment.Calling the attention of all national malaria control programs, if you wish to publish your alumni of different nationalcounterpart of international trainings like MMFO, TTT, BITTW and the like, please submit the list of your alumni per courseat infonetwork@actmalaria.netCLIP BoardA workshop on malaria sponsored bythe Ministry of Commerce will be heldat the National Institute for ParasiticDiseases, China CDC. The selectionof the participants will be carried outby the cooperation of the local government and the ChineseEmbassy. More than 35 participants are expected tovisit Hainan Province. For more information, pleaseemail Dr. Guan Yayi at guan_ml@yahoo.com.A Malaria Slide Bank Project organizedby RITM through Ms. JenniferLuchavez (jluchavez@yahoo.com)has just passed. There will also be aconsultative workshop on malaria policies on September19-20, 2007 and the 1st Philippine Malaria Network(PMN) Stakeholders Meeting on September 21, 2007.The last two activities was organized by PMN Secretariatunder Ms. Desiree Aragones. Meanwhile, Ms. CecilHugo presented “Malaria in the Asia Pacific Region” atthe FETP Scientific Conference 2007. FETP is celebra-ting their 20th anniversary. Congratulations!An Informal Consultation on MonitoringP. falciparum and P. vivax Resistance toAnti-malarial Drugs in the Mekong Regionwas held last 3-5 September at Club AndamanBeach Resort, Phuket, Thailand. Theobjectives of the consultation are to (a) totake stock of the progress made in the countries of theGreater Mekong Subregion (GMS) regarding the monitoringof P. falciparum and P. vivax resistance to antimalarialdrugs; (b) to update participants in WHO methodologies andguidelines to monitor antimalarial drug resistance; and (c) toplan, budget and coordinate future antimalarial drug efficacymonitoring activities, including review of sentinel sites, establishmentof a laboratory network, defining training andother needs, and to specify WHO technical assistance andcooperation. Participants include National Malaria ControlProgramme managers of the six GMS countries, nationaltechnical focal points for antimalarial drug resistance monitoringand donor representatives. Contact: Ms. ThitimaRatanachaiyaphan (thitima@searo.who.int)

Photo GalleryACTMalariaACTMalariaDr. Gil delaCruz with a PNG participant in Palawan(MMFO-Philippines)Informal Consultation on monitoring P. falciparumand P. vivax resistance to antimalarial drugs in theMekong Region. Phuket, Thailand. 3-5 Sept. 2007ACTMalariaDo you have any announcements to disseminate?Or any news, updates, events, trainings, seminars, lectures orjust anything you want to share?We will post them for you.Email us at infonetwork@actmalaria.netMinistry of Health Library Malaysia visitedby AIRCOr simply log-on to our Forum site: http://forum.actmalaria.netAsian Collaborative Training Network for MalariaACTMalaria (Asian Collaborative Training Network for Malaria) is a training network to which the NationalMalaria Control Programmes of Bangladesh, Cambodia, PR China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia,Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are members. The network aims at 2 major activities:• Provide collaborative training for member countries to meet the needs of malaria control inSoutheast Asia and the Mekong Sub-region;• Improve information and communication exchange among member countries, partners andother stakeholders on malaria problems affecting the region.ACTMalaria Foundation, Inc.11/f Ramon Magsaysay Center, 1680 Roxas Boulevard, Malate,Manila, PhilippinesTelephone: 63-2-536-5607Telefax: 63-2-536-0971E-mail: infonetwork@actmalaria.netWebsite: http://www.actmalaria.netResource Email: resource@actmalaria.netResource Website: http://resource.actmalaria.netACTMalaria NewsCCD: Dr. Duong Socheat (Cambodia)Vice CCD: Dr. Samlane Phompida (Lao PDR)Executive Coordinator: Ms. Cecilia T. HugoExecutive Assistant: Ms. Joy Ann B. LicoIT Assistant: Mr. Rogelio T. Mendoza, Jr.Information Resource Officer: Mr. Joseph M. Yap© September 2007An electronic copy can be downloaded fromhttp://www.actmalaria.net.