Analysis of the rapid policy change toward empirical treatment of fever with artemisinin-based combination therapy in Ebola-burdened areas of Liberia

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Investigator: Matt Susko, MS
Sponsor: Global Health Sciences Education

Location(s): United States

Description

The adoption of "Test and Treat" and the T3 policy was a major undertaking in the realm of malaria diagnosis and treatment. From 2010 until the present a tremendous amount of resources and manpower was placed into helping countries adopt this policy and train their workforce to operate within its structure. However, with Ebola gaining international attention and the stresses of the epidemic causing near collapse of the Liberian health system, the WHO and CDC changed the malaria treatment policy dramatically. The policy went from diagnostic test based treatment to empiric treatment and mass drug administrations within the matter of days to weeks, and the ability to achieve this was in part due to the efficacy of the rapid policy change. This study aims to investigate what factors allowed the rapid policy change to happen and how that can be adapted to future health policy changes.

Mentors: Lady Neelam Feachem, MHA & Colin Boyle, MBA