"This award affirms USAID’s confidence in our ability to implement effective malaria control strategies and provide innovation to make the interventions cost-effective," said Allyson Bear, senior vice president for international development
ROCKVILLE, Md. (PRWEB) January 05, 2023
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the lead agency for the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), has named Abt Associates as the lead in a new, five-year, $809 million contract, Prevention of Malaria through Vector Control (PMVC), to further PMI’s global commitment to end malaria.
Under the PMVC contract, Abt and its partners will work with country governments to integrate indoor residual spray campaigns with distribution of insecticide treated nets--two proven, life-saving malaria vector control interventions—as well as new tools adopted by PMI such as larval source management. PMCV activities will also include comprehensive entomological monitoring, which is the backbone of vector control decision-making, conducted in partnership with local research institutions. Abt will align its approach with the principles for effective programming and equitable partnerships in USAID’s Local Capacity Strengthening Policy throughout all activities, to support national malaria programs and other local actors as they increasingly lead the work of malaria prevention in their countries.
The new contract builds on Abt’s current work under the PMI VectorLink Project, awarded in 2017, which currently is operating in 23 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Cambodia and Colombia. Under PMI VectorLink, the project has partnered with more than 75 local research institutions to strengthen national capacity in vector control monitoring and research. In 2021, PMI VectorLink protected more than 35 million people from malaria.
Abt Associates’ PMVC partners include PATH; Population Services International; BAO Systems; Dimagi Inc.; EnCompass; Health Information Systems Program Centre at University of Oslo and its affiliates in West and Central Africa and Uganda; Malaria Consortium; Tropical Health; and the University of California, San Francisco, Malaria Elimination Initiative.
Malaria is the leading cause of death among children under five in sub-Saharan Africa, and nearly half the world’s population is at risk of its transmission. Since 2000, PMI and its partners have made remarkable progress in reducing cases and deaths–helping to save 11.7 million lives and prevent approximately 2 billion malaria infections.
“This award affirms USAID’s confidence in our ability to implement effective malaria control strategies and provide innovation to make the interventions cost-effective," said Allyson Bear, senior vice president for international development. “We’re honored to have been able to help save thousands of lives in the past and look forward to continuing to pursue that mission.”
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About Abt Associates
Abt Associates is a global consulting and research firm that combines data and bold thinking to improve the quality of people's lives. We partner with clients and communities to advance equity and innovation—from creating scalable digital solutions and combatting infectious disease, to mitigating climate change and evaluating programs for measurable social impact—and more.