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Photo at the end of launch ceremony. (First row: right to left): Shino Arikawa (IRD), Mr Joseph Abotsigan (Journalist), Dr Winiga Koudema (Director CHP Notsè), Père Emmanuel Missihu, Dr Tinah Atcha-Oubou (NMCP Coordinator), Mr Awo Tchangani (Prefect of Haho), His Majesty the King of Haho Agokoli IV, Pr Didier Ekouevi (PI, MULTIPLY Togo)

Launch of the MULTIPLY project in Togo – 21 January 2022

The MULTIPLY project is being implemented in Sierra Leone, Togo and Mozambique. In Togo, the MULTIPLY project is coordinated by the University of Lomé in close collaboration with the Barcelona Institute of Global Health (ISGlobal) and the Ministry of Health, Public Hygiene, and Universal Access to Health Care through the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) and Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI).

MULTIPLY was officially launched in Togo on January 21, 2022. MULTIPLY will be conducted in Haho district Togo. The launch was conducted by the Prefect of the Haho District, in the presence of the Principal Investigator of MULTIPLY  in Togo (Prof. Didier Ekouevi). Also present were the mayor of the commune of Haho 1, the NMCP coordinator, His Majesty the King of Haho, President of the Council of Traditional Chiefs of Togo, the Haho Health District Director, the director of the Hospital of Notsè, the MULTIPLY project team, a representative of the MULTIPLY partner Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), religious and military authorities, members of the district management team, and members of the press. The ceremony began with speeches by the mayor of Haho 1, the NMCP coordinator and his majesty the King of Haho.  The NMCP coordinator stated that the IPTi was included in the National Malaria Control Strategy documents, but was never implemented due to lack of funding; for him, the success of the MULTIPLY project would be a boost advocacy. The principal investigator then took the floor to present the MULTIPLY project and to thank the local administrative and health authorities for their support of the project. This was followed by a discussion session during which the audience asked questions about the project. During this session, the Director of the Notsè prefectural hospital, who is a paediatrician, emphasized the importance of a project like MULTIPLY in view of the relatively high morbidity and mortality due to malaria that his hospital has to deal with.  The Prefect of Haho then took the floor; he emphasized his commitment to health activities for the benefit of the population of his district and pledged to support the MULTIPLY project before declaring the MULTIPLY project officially launched in the Haho district.

Togo will soon be one of the few countries in sub-Saharan Africa to implement IPTi. In addition to the three doses of IPTi currently recommended by WHO, an extra dose will be administered at 15 months to increase the protective efficacy of IPTi in children under 2 years of age, a high-risk group for malaria.

Public of the launch ceremony (First row, left to right) : Mr Amouzou Atsou (Representative of Chef Canton Asrama), His Majesty the King of Haho Agokoli IV, Mr Awo Tchangani ((Prefect of Haho), Dr Tinah Atcha-Oubou (NMCP Coordinator), Pr Didier Ekouevi (PI, MULTIPLY Togo)

Speech of the Prefect of Haho. Left to right : Dr Tinah Atcha-Oubou (NMCP Coordinator), Mr Awo Tchangani (Prefect of Haho), His Majesty the King of Haho Agokoli IV, Mr Sefenu Yaovi (Mayor of Haho 1)

Presentation of MULTIPLY by PI, Togo, Didier Ekouevi (with the microphone) Présentation du Projet MULTIPLY par l’Investigateur Principal. (De la gauche vers la droite) Pr Didier Ekouevi (Investigateur Principal, MULTIPLY Togo), Dr Tinah Atcha-Oubou (coordonnateur du PNLP), Mr Awo Tchangani (Préfet du Haho), Sa majesté Agokoli IV (Roi du Haho)

Kick off of MULTIPLY, a Project that Seeks to Increase Child Survival through the Implementation of IPTi

 

40 participants from Togo, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Spain participate in the virtual meeting on May 5-6, 2021

In the last decades, little change has been introduced in the tools and strategies the international community uses for malaria prevention in children. Despite the wide distribution of insecticide treated nets, there are still over 60% of pregnant women and children who do not sleep under one of them. In this context, in 2010, the WHO recommended Intermittent Preventive Treatment in infants (IPTi) for malaria control in children under 1 year of age living in areas with moderate-to-high malaria transmission.

Despite that IPTi has been shown to be safe and efficacious in reducing clinical malaria, anaemia and hospital admissions, and to be highly cost-effective since it is delivered alongside childhood vaccinations through the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), and uses an inexpensive antimalarial drug (Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine), it has not been implemented to date except in Sierra Leone.

“As efforts to control malaria are stalling, and the disease is particularly severe in children under two, it is imperative for countries in Africa with areas of moderate-to-high malaria transmission to implement IPTi in the first two years of life” affirms Clara Menéndez, director of the Maternal, Child and Reproductive Health Initiative at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)-Hospital Clínic/Barcelona University, and project coordinator of the MULTIPLY project.

 

MULTIPLY (Multiple doses of IPTi Proposal: A lifesaving high yield intervention) is a 40-month implementation research project coordinated by ISGlobal, an institution supported by “la Caixa” Foundation, that will seek to increase the doses of IPTi given from 3 doses in the first year of life to up to seven doses in the first two years of life, alongside routine vaccinations both at health facilities and mobile-outreach clinics, in selected areas of Sierra Leone, Togo and Mozambique.

The project will be implemented with stakeholders at the national level – the Ministries of Health of Togo, Sierra Leone and Mozambique- and more specifically the National Malaria Control Programs and the Expanded Programs on Immunisation. Internationally, WHO and UNICEF will facilitate the dissemination of knowledge and inform recommendations and guidance for IPTi delivery.

The MULTIPLY Consortium

The consortium partners are ISGlobal, the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), France; Fundaçao Manhiça, Mozambique; University of Lomé (UL), Togo; College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS); Sierra Leone and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV), Switzerland.

The MULTIPLY project is funded by the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), with additional support from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, “la Caixa” Foundation, and the Spanish Development Cooperation Agency (AECID).

This project is part of the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union (grant number RIA2020S-3272-MULTIPLY).

MULTIPLY’s symposium on IPTi at the Tenth EDCTP Forum

 

MULTIPLY (MULTIple doses of IPTi Proposal: a Lifesaving high Yield intervention) will hold a symposium on Intermittent Preventive Treatment of malaria in infants (IPTi) at the Tenth European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Forum. The Forum will be held as a virtual meeting hosted from the Joaquim Chissano International Conference Centre in Maputo from 17 – 21 October 2021.  The symposium will be held at 1pm Mozambique local time (CAT / CEST) on Wednesday October 20th. 

The symposium “Advances in Intermittent Preventive Treatment of malaria in infants (IPTi) for improved and equitable health for children under 2 in sub-Saharan Africa” symposium will be held at 1pm Mozambique local time (CAT / CEST) on Wednesday October 20th and chaired by Dr. Clara Menéndez (ISGlobal, Project Coordinator of MULTIPLY). The symposium will consist of 3 presentations followed by a Q&A session. 

Dr. Augustin Fombah (ISGlobal and Ministry of Health of Sierra Leone) will present on “Lessons learned after 4 years of IPTi implementation in Sierra Leone”. Dr. Francisco Saúte (Manhiça Health Research Centre, Mozambique) will discuss “Challenges in the implementation of IPTi in a country with different malaria transmission patterns”. Lastly, Dr. Clara Menéndez will give an “Overview of the MULTIPLY project in Mozambique, Togo, and Sierra Leone”. 

Large scale IPTi implementation projects in Africa funded by different funders are also beginning in 2021, representatives of these projects, as well as MOH Expanded Programme on Immunization and National Malaria Control Programme managers from Mozambique, Togo, and Sierra Leone will take part in the Q&A session.

The Forum theme – Equity in research for health – is at the core of the EDCTP mission. The Forum objectives reflect the need for global research cooperation in preparedness and response to disease outbreaks, in public health emergencies, and in strengthening health systems. Awareness of this need has never been greater than it is now.

The hybrid format of the Forum (virtual and live from Maputo) presents a platform to take stock of the activities and achievements of currently operational Europe-Africa research and capacity building partnerships, including their contribution to strengthening the clinical research environment in African countries and progress towards sustainable development goals.