An Anthropological Analysis of Acceptability and Feasibility of Expanding Community-Based Malaria Management to All Ages in Madagascar: Levers and Challenges for National Scale-Up.

Abstract

Despite significant progress in reducing malaria effects in recent decades, malaria remains a major challenge in Madagascar. Geographic and financial barriers often prevent individuals from seeking prompt care. Community health workers (CHWs) in many countries, including Madagascar, provide malaria case management services to children younger than 5 years old, although they typically do not treat older children and adults, leaving a gap for those living far from health facilities. To determine the efficacy of expanding malaria community case management (mCCM) to community members of all ages, a cluster randomized trial was conducted in one district of Madagascar from November 2020 to December 2021. Qualitative surveys were conducted to describe the acceptability and feasibility of this intervention among beneficiaries and CHWs. For this purpose, 87 semistructured interviews and 12 focus groups were conducted in intervention and control arms of the study to assess understanding of malaria, behaviors related to care seeking for fever, perceptions of CHW roles, and acceptability and feasibility of the age-expanded mCCM. Two major findings emerged. First, stakeholders found age-expanded mCCM to be consistent with existing CHW roles and practices. Age-expanded mCCM induced a recognition of adults' susceptibility to malaria and led to a more accurate understanding of malaria. Second, structural and community-based challenges were not fully resolved by age-expanded mCCM, and some, such as the question of the cost of care, emerged after its implementation. Despite the fact that age-expanded mCCM was acceptable to beneficiaries and CHWs, successful scale-up will require addressing structural challenges and sociodemographic inequalities.