By Christopher Lourenço, Malaria Deputy Director, PSI and Malia Skjefte, Malaria Technical Advisor, PSI
April 25th marks this year’s World Malaria Day – an occasion that celebrates achievements and progress in malaria prevention and elimination efforts, while reinforcing the need for continued commitment from global stakeholders. The RBM Partnership to End Malaria highlights the urgency for action and further investment to deliver the maximum impact against malaria, due to the growing gap between the amount invested in the global malaria response (US $3.5 billion) and the resources needed (US $7.3 billion) (World Malaria Report 2022). This year’s theme, “Time to deliver zero malaria: invest, innovate, implement” encompasses the need to invest in malaria programs, innovate to deliver transformative and improved malaria solutions, and implement national strategies to accelerate progress against malaria.
Here are a few examples of how PSI’s work aligns with this year’s theme:
Investing and Innovating in Health System Strengthening (HSS)
PSI views our malaria work as an important foundation to overall health system investment – that is, to permanently enable health systems to provide quality healthcare to those that need it most by strengthening public, private, and community networks at each level of the health system. Our health system strengthening approach to malaria control and elimination focusses on improving the reach of high-quality malaria prevention and care by using data more innovatively, increasing the coverage and use of core health interventions through strengthened community systems, and finally, adopting integrated, systems-based approaches to bolster health security. In the brief you will find PSI’s strategic entry points to eliminating malaria and building resilient health systems across Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, with case studies that describe the approaches and progress of our current interventions.
Implementing Malaria Solutions at Scale
While countries and partners are encouraged to deliver World Health Organization (WHO)recommended tools and strategies, implementation challenges still prevent new interventions from reaching the most vulnerable. Funded by Unitaid, PSI’s Plus Project is working with national governments and other stakeholders to co-design, implement, and evaluate Perennial Malaria Chemoprevention (PMC) measures using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) in Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Mozambique. This project follows the 2022 WHO recommendation for PMC, which states that children belonging to age groups at high risk of severe malaria can be given antimalarial medicines at predefined intervals to reduce disease burden in areas of moderate to high perennial malaria transmission.
The Plus Project will share learnings from implementation experience and research evidence to help countries decide if and how to use PMC as part of their malaria chemoprevention strategies. Overall, the project will increase access to high-quality PMC among children under two in each project country and generate evidence to catalyze sustained uptake of PMC in the project countries and other malaria endemic countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Child receiving SP for PMC at a health facility in Côte d’Ivoire
Committing to Deliver Zero Malaria
Committed to consumer-powered health care, PSI strives to make it easier for people affected by malaria around the world to seek and receive quality malaria prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services. In cooperation with governments and stakeholders, and with support from President’s Malaria Initiative, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Unitaid, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and others, PSI will continue to support malaria programs, increase investments, adopt smart innovations, and implement quality, well-targeted, and sustainable malaria interventions. PSI works with governments and key stakeholders to move beyond access to malaria interventions to proactively reach all populations in need with equitable and expansive healthcare services.
With overarching commitments to flexibility in our work, and greater wellbeing for our employees, we want to ensure PSI is positioned for success with a global and holistic view of talent. Under our new “work from (almost) anywhere,” or “WFAA” philosophy, we are making the necessary investments to be an employer of record in more than half of U.S. states, and consider the U.S. as one single labor market for salary purposes. Globally, we recognize the need to compete for talent everywhere; we maintain a talent center in Nairobi and a mini-hub in Abidjan. PSI also already works with our Dutch-based European partner, PSI Europe, and we’re creating a virtual talent center in the UK.
OUR COMMITMENTS
Meaningful Youth Engagement
PSI is firmly committed to the meaningful engagement of young people in our work. As signatories of the Global Consensus Statement on Meaningful Adolescent & Youth Engagement, PSI affirms that young people have a fundamental right to actively and meaningfully engage in all matters that affect their lives. PSI’s commitments aim to serve and partner with diverse young people from 10-24 years, and we have prioritized ethics and integrity in our approach. Read more about our commitments to the three core principles of respect, justice and Do No Harm in the Commitment to Ethics in Youth-Powered Design. And read more about how we are bringing our words to action in our ICPD+25 commitment, Elevating Youth Voices, Building Youth Skills for Health Design.
OUR COMMITMENTS
Zero Tolerance for Modern-Day Slavery and Human Trafficking
Since 2017, PSI has been a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact, a commitment to align strategies and operations with universal principles of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. Read about PSI’s commitment to the UN Global Compact here.
Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity
PSI does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, marital status, genetic information, disability, protected veteran status or any other classification protected by applicable federal, state or local law. Read our full affirmative action and equal employment opportunity policy here.
OUR COMMITMENTS
Zero Tolerance for Discrimination and Harassment
PSI is committed to establishing and maintaining a work environment that fosters harmonious, productive working relationships and encourages mutual respect among team members. Read our policy against discrimination and harassment here.
PSI is committed to serving all health consumers with respect, and strives for the highest standards of ethical behavior. PSI is dedicated to complying with the letter and spirit of all laws, regulations and contractual obligations to which it is subject, and to ensuring that all funds with which it is entrusted are used to achieve maximum impact on its programs. PSI provides exceptionally strong financial, operational and program management systems to ensure rigorous internal controls are in place to prevent and detect fraud, waste and abuse and ensure compliance with the highest standards. Essential to this commitment is protecting the safety and well-being of our program consumers, including the most vulnerable, such as women and children. PSI maintains zero tolerance for child abuse, sexual abuse, or exploitative acts or threats by our employees, consultants, volunteers or anyone associated with the delivery of our programs and services, and takes seriously all complaints of misconduct brought to our attention.
OUR FOCUS
Diversity and Inclusion
PSI affirms its commitment to diversity and believes that when people feel respected and included they can be more honest, collaborative and successful. We believe that everyone deserves respect and equal treatment regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, cultural background or religious beliefs. Read our commitment to diversity and inclusion here. Plus, we’ve signed the CREED Pledge for Racial and Ethnic Equity. Learn more.
From ministries of health to regulatory bodies and purchasers, we partner with private and public sector players to provide seamless health services to consumers – no matter their entry point to care.
Across 40+ countries, we scale digital solutions that make it easier for people to take ownership of their own health, and health systems to use resources efficiently and increase health impact.
Supporting People to be Active Agents in their Healthcare
We support health systems in shaping the policy and regulatory environment for self-care interventions and ensuring self-care is included as an essential part of healthcare services.
