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"Partnership for Success"
Zanzibar is the name of a fabled land which for many to this day evokes images of mysterious jungles and intrepid explorers. It also often invokes another image: that of deadly malaria. Historically, Zanzibar - two islands off the east coast of Africa which today form part of the United Republic of Tanzania - has always been plagued with near-epidemic levels of malaria.
Even in the twenty-first century, malaria continues to constitute a major public health threat in Zanzibar, particularly for pregnant women and children under five. Growing levels of resistance to the first-line drug chloroquine have only compounded the problem.
Faced with this difficult situation, Zanzibar became the first country to implement the new generation of malaria treatments, artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). Working through the National Malaria Control Programme and the national public health infrastructure, the implementation of the new national treatment strategy for malaria included not only the purchase of the drugs but also a new procurement process which includes quality assurance procedures and overview of the distribution system. As a result, over 90 percent of local health facilities have had no shortages of medicine in the last year.
The decision to implement ACTs also included upgrading laboratory facilities and the training of healthcare personnel. To date, over five hundred medical staff have received training in the new treatment protocols.
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