Benin

The President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) is a core component of the Global Health Initiative (GHI), along with HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. PMI was launched in June 2005 as a 5-year, $1.2 billion initiative to rapidly scale up malaria prevention and treatment interventions and reduce malaria-related mortality by 50% in 15 high-burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa. With passage of the 2008 Lantos-Hyde Act, funding for PMI has now been extended and the goal of PMI has been expanded to reduce malaria-related mortality by 70% in the original 15 countries by the end of 2015. This will be achieved by continuing to scale up coverage of the most vulnerable groups -children under five years of age and pregnant women - with proven preventive and therapeutic interventions, including artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), insecticide-treated nets (ITNs), intermittent preventive treatment of pregnant women (IPTp), and indoor residual spraying (IRS). Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 was the first year of PMI funding in Benin. Large-scale implementation of ACTs and IPTp began in Benin in 2007 and has progressed rapidly with support from PMI and other partners. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), ACTs, and IPTp are now available and being used in public health facilities nationwide; and millions of long-lasting ITNs have been distributed with the last nationwide distribution campaign completedin 2014.This FY 2015 Malaria Operational Plan (MOP) presents a detailed implementation plan for Benin, based on the National Malaria Control Program's (NMCP's) five-year strategic plan (2011-2015). It was developed in consultation with the NMCP and with the participation of national and international partners involved in malaria prevention and control in the country. The activities that PMI is proposing to support fit in well with the NMCP strategy and build on investments made by PMI and other partners, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund). This document briefly reviews the current status of malaria control policies and interventions in Benin, describes progress to date, identifies challenges and unmet needs to achieving the targets of the NMCP and PMI, and provides a description of activities to be implemented with FY 2015 funding