Evaluation of the community impact of START-IPT

-
Investigator: Grant Dorsey, MD
Sponsor: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Location(s): Uganda

Description

We propose to evaluate the community-level impact of intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) for malaria in schoolchildren on clinical outcomes and malaria transmission, using a cluster-randomised design in Jinja, Uganda. Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) will be administered to schoolchildren monthly for up to six rounds of treatment during one school year. Outcomes will be measured using surveys of communities, schoolchildren, and mosquito vectors. Our proposal also includes health service research to evaluate the potential feasibility of taking the programme to scale, which will guide future research and implementation of the intervention, and help shape policies in Uganda and elsewhere in Africa.