Table 2 Deployment of rectal artesunate in the Dangme West district for severe malaria in children under- five

Research project focus and funding

Research problem: the project aims to assess the feasibility of the deployment of rectal artesunate at community level.

2004

Geopolitical context: Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique.

Funders and funding process: WHO through a call process.

Budget: 258.000$

Research project evolution/process

Conception: WHO put a call on the website.

Justification: Studies on the efficacy of rectal articulate were conducted in Ghana in Navrongo research centre. Dodowa conducted the only study in Ghana to look at the feasibility of deployment rectal artesunate in a real context. The study was considered by the researcher and by the policy makers as addressing an important health problem, an urgent matter and a complex issue.

Study design/Research methods: Observational study with 2 phases (formative and intervention). The design was defined as good quality study.

Research collaborators: WHO, Tanzania and Mozambique research centres, malaria control program, district health director and health centres. Those collaborators were involved in the study from the conception until the dissemination of results giving financial and technical support.

Key projects events/concerns: turnover of staff already trained and difficulties with following systematically all procedures (at community or health facility) were challenges during the implementation of the study.

Main findings/recommendations: the study produced evidence on the feasibility of administrating artesunate at community level, and the compliance of referral to health facility after the drug administration. Results are considered to be clear and concrete.

Dissemination of findings: results were presented to the community, to the district authorities, at the regional health management review, at the national dissemination forum, at the 6th INDEPTH scientific in Burkina Faso (“Using community members to dispense rectal artesunate for the initial management of severe malaria in under-five children in a rural district in Ghana”) and at the Global Health Forum in Geneva in 2008 (“Reaching the Un-Reached in the Event of Severe Malaria in Under Five Children in a Rural District in Ghana”). PI believes that the results have been communicated effectively. More than 400 hundred people received the research results.

Main research products

Project report and Power point presentation: Done. No policy brief.

2006

Articles: Article published in 2016 [33].

2016

Policy impacts

Level of policy making: the project had an impact at national level, at health managers and at health providers’ level.

Type of policy: the study influenced clinical practice policies on the management of malaria cases.

Nature of policy impact: This was a mobilization of support where research findings supported the feasibility of including rectal articulate on guides and protocols in Ghana.

Policy networks: researchers informed policy makers through the dissemination mechanisms (district, regional and national dissemination forum).

Political capital: the researcher believes they gained value in reaching policy agreements. Research results were considered in policy documents. The researcher expressed that the more research is conducted, the more influence researchers gained.

Inclusion in policy documents: Recommendations are included in the Anti- Malaria Drug Policy (MoH), Guidelines for Case Management of Malaria and the Home management of Malaria, ARI, and Diarrhoea guidelines

Who benefited: all children in Ghana and health managers through capacity building.

Unintended outcomes: None.