Welcome & Introduction – Reviewing key objectives of the Management Module

Learning Objectives

Recent years have seen important innovations in technologies and new approaches in the fight against Malaria, where management plays an increasingly important role. In the first session, participants will grapple with the ‘big picture’ during which they will gain an understanding of role of management in past and future achievements of malaria eradication. We will review technology advances and other innovations, and how, well managed, they can contribute to the goal of malaria eradication. The session will underline the importance of management and provide a short overview of the programme.

This session will give an overview of the Tanzanian National Mosquito Net Programme over the past 10 years, and its diversification into one of the largest and most integrated vector control programme in Africa.  A focus will be put on the strategic planning and management of the programme, as well as its health impact.

Learning Objectives

• To better understand the complexity of planning and managing a large-scale vector control programme in a resource-constrained environment.

This session will review challenges and innovation in Managing the End of Malaria.

Learning Objectives

This session will address managing the transition from programmatic control of malaria to an integrated malaria eradication approach within health systems. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how to:

• Manage the transition from control to eradication.
• Manage the adoption of complex innovations.

This session will review the operational ways to organize work: projects and processes, and describe the different stages of the project life cycle.

Learning Objectives

• To identify the stages in the life of a project and which are the critical issues around each of them.
• To define a project taking into account the expectations of the different stakeholders.

This session will review the most common mistakes in project management to avoid them in future projects.

Learning Objectives

• Identification of the main common mistakes in project management.
• Approaches to avoid the mistakes.
• Ways to improve project management.

UNITAID is an innovative financing mechanism for health that aims to increase access to products to treat, diagnose and prevent HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. UNITAID does this by raising additional, sustainable financing, and using these funds strategically to support market interventions that address the shortcomings in the global markets for these products.  Market-based approaches can have substantial public health impact and are now widely recognized as powerful tools for increasing access to key commodities.

Malaria stakeholders such as global health agencies, donors and governments, are increasingly adopting market-based approaches as an additional means of improving access to key commodities alongside traditional service delivery initiatives. However, malaria commodity markets are complex, dynamic and not well understood, particularly in the private sector where large proportions of people seek care for malaria.

This session will present the UNITAID strategy, business model and theoretical framework for improving public health outcomes through market-based approaches. Following this, current issues in malaria commodity markets will be presented and discussed, including potential opportunities to use market-based approaches to improve access. Practical examples from malaria treatment, diagnosis and prevention will be provided.

Learning Objectives

Participants will gain an understanding of:

• UNITAID as an innovative financing mechanism, it’s business model and strategy, and its unique role in the global health architecture;
• Key issues affecting the markets for commodities used in the prevention diagnosis and treatment of malaria; and
• How market-based interventions have been used to improve access to malaria commodities, and what market-based interventions might be considered going forward.

Why do we need new vector control products?  How are they developed and what are the barriers to innovation in this field?

Learning Objectives

• To identify where new products are required to achieve effective vector control.
• To understand the process and investment required to drive new product development.
• To understand the role of the global health community in incentivizing innovation in vector control.

New business models in Global Health – Based on the concept of franchising, CFWShops, a network of pharmacy franchises in Kenya, managed by the Sustainable Healthcare Foundation (SHF), facilitate access to medication in resource poor settings. Among the managerial challenges are supply chain, information system, financial sustainability and growth.

Learning Objectives

Participants in this session will learn:

• Application of successful business models to global health / malaria eradication;
• Innovative business models and entrepreneurial management; and
• How to manage the private / public interface.

The recognition around 2000 that neglected diseases were truly “neglected” – from the levels of investment in R&D to insufficient funding of disease control programs – combined with new sources of philanthropic and global health funding, has contributed to innovations in malaria.

Over the past 15 years, the malaria R&D community has expanded to include new and expanded research institutions and Product Development Partnerships. With the goal of eradication, the Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) initiative developed a credible and actionable plan to fill knowledge gaps and build the investment case for eradication as a specific target. Although the malaria pipeline has never been as robust as it is today, overall funding levels lag behind current needs. Industry has often played a critical role. Improving how the public health desired outputs are defined, public investments in innovation are identified, and formalizing the gatekeeping steps towards advanced development should help make this enterprise more efficient and successful.

Learning Objectives

• To understand the key drivers that led the public sector to create and invest in product development partnerships, and the impact of these efforts.
• To understand the role of public sector agenda setting (“defining the need”) and how the eradication agenda offers a unique opportunity to build capacity to implement a dramatic shift in strategy.
• To understand the shifting role of multilateral organizations in supporting innovation over the past decade, and the potential future role being considered by these organizations.
• To identify novel mechanisms of generating new concepts and funding them.

This session will provide an insight into the concepts and operational challenges of an evaluation program established in the frame of the National Malaria Control Program in Papua New Guinea.

Learning Objectives

Participants should be able to:

• Critically assess different program evaluation approaches in a complex real-life setting.
• Understand the difficult balance between scientific accuracy and operational feasibility.

Learning Objectives

• Build consensus and manage strategic partnerships.
• Fostering collaboration in a multi-stakeholder context.
• Turning global strategy into local actions (accountability).