Malaria Control in Complex Emergencies: An Inter-Agency Field Handbook

This handbook focuses on effective malaria control in complex emergencies, particularly during the acute phase when reliance on international humanitarian assistance is greatest. It provides policy-makers, planners, field programme managers and medical co-ordinators with practical guidance on designing, implementing and monitoring measures to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality. Such measures address the needs of both the displaced and the host populations and accommodate the changes in those needs as an acute emergency evolves into a more stable situation. A glossary is provided at the beginning of the handbook and suggestions for further reading are included at the end of several chapters.

• Chapter 1. Introduction - introduces complex emergencies and malaria control.
• Chapter 2. Initial assessment and planning - describes how to assess the burden of malaria in an emergency and how to identify those most at risk, as well as how to use the information collected to design an effective response.
• Chapter 3. Surveillance - discusses the establishment of surveillance systems to monitor the malaria situation.
• Chapter 4. Outbreak preparedness and response - describes how to prepare for and respond to a sudden increase in malaria cases.
• Chapter 5. Case management - provides an overview of methods of diagnosis, treatment and patient care in complex emergencies.
• Chapter 6. Prevention - describes the most useful approaches and tools currently available for vector control and personal protection from malaria in complex emergencies.
• Chapter 7. Community participation and health education - discusses how to mobilise affected communities to participate in malaria control interventions.
• Chapter 8. Research and evaluation - focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of prevention and treatment measures, and identifies priority operational research issues for malaria control in complex emergencies.