Perception on feasibility of the drug combination.
malaria, helminths, fatigue
MALARIA
In the opinion of NTD and SMC program managers, the initiative to combine preventive drugs against malaria and helminths is a timely approach in the context of the scarcity of economic and human resources prevailing in Senegal. The managers highlighted the relevance of the integrated treatment approach in reducing the public expenditures for implementing separate vertical mono-disease control programs. They also emphasized that the combined approach would enable them to gain time that could be channeled into developing operational planning and strategic implementation of other activities at the Ministry.The idea of combining campaigns for the same target population seems to me to be very efficient, in order not only to save financial resources but also resources in terms of time for the organization of these campaigns and which nevertheless allows better integration of activities at the level of the Ministry of Health. What we find interesting in this combination is the fact of maximizing synergies, especially since we are working on the same target population, and we are the same actors, operating in the same health system. So, it’s important that we are moving towards this integration as it will allow us to be much more time-efficient, ensure better cost-efficiency in the delivery of the intervention especially at the operational level. It will also reduce the workload of the service providers. Similar comments were made by the healthcare providers who reported that community fatigue usually sets in when multiple MDA campaigns are implemented in the same communities within a short timeframe.Apart from these campaigns, there are other campaigns that are taking place throughout the year; an example is the expanded immunization program, there are so many other campaigns that are carried out, so if we reduce the number of campaigns by integrating them, that would certainly allow for better acceptability. In order not to repeat myself, I can say that it is the fact of combining the drugs. At the strategic level, having better efficiency is beneficial. The two programs are in the same direction, and we do not have the resources for several campaigns. Especially since the campaigns are done with the same actors with the same target populations. 