Malaria Transmission Consortium: monitoring and evaluations of malaria internventions in epidemic-prones areas of Kenya.

Countries:	Kenya
Principle investigator(s):	Jon Cox
Funder:	Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations via Notre Dame University, Indiana
Collaborator(s):	Chris Drakeley (LSHTM); Mary Hamel, Nabie Bayoh, John Gimnig (KEMRI/CDC); Willis Akhwale (Ministry of Health, Kenya)
Started:	March 2008
Duration:	4 years
Summary:	The purpose of the MTC is to develop tools with which to establish an evidence base to help malaria control program managers monitor malaria transmission and implement and adjust malaria control interventions across a range of malaria transmission intensities. The MTC will work with malaria control programmes to (1) identify simple, standardized and inexpensive methods for measuring malaria transmission through entomological, parasitological and serological techniques, and (2) in parallel evaluate transmission-reducing malaria control techniques, both alone and in combinations across a range of malaria transmission environments. The MTC comprises a network of malaria research groups associated with active malaria control programmes in Indonesia, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. LSHTM staff members are taking a prominent role in the design of generic, consortium-wide activities and are also principally responsible for research activities in the MTC’s highland African site in western Kenya. Funding for the MTC was approved in 2007; research protocols are currently being finalized and it is anticipated that field activities will begin in the second quarter of 2008.
Demand for research:	The MTC consortium is an indirect response to demand from Ministries of Health, Gates Foundation, GFATM etc. for innovative and validated methods for monitoring and evaluating large-scale interventions.
Target audience:	Ministries of Health, GFATM, large donors including BMGF, DFID
Possible influence on policy & practice:	Results should directly influence future approaches to M&E, particularly in unstable transmission settings. Evidence of relative effectiveness of IRS and ITNs will also have a direct impact on the design of malaria control in these areas.