The new malaria treatment policy that calls for using lumefantrine-artemether
(LA) 20 milligram (mg)/120 mg (Coartem®) for the treatment of uncomplicated
malaria was officially launched in Malawi in December 2007. To support the
health facilities on the implementation of the new malaria treatment policy and
to routinely monitor implementation progress, quarterly supervision visits were
scheduled for 2008. The first supervisory visits were conducted on March 10–20,
2008. Supervisory teams included malaria officers from National Malaria Control
Program (NMCP), zonal medical officers, members from U. S. Agency for
International Development (USAID)/DELIVER, Management Sciences for Health’s
(MSH) Strengthening Pharmaceutical Systems (SPS) Program, case management
trainers, and district malaria coordinators, and district pharmacy technicians. Forty-four
facilities in 23 districts in the 5 zones were visited. These included 14
government District Hospitals, 1 rural hospital, 12 health centers, and 9
Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM) hospitals and 8 CHAM health
centers.