SEMA ReACT study gets underway in Zambia

All study approvals for Zambia were obtained by 10th April 2024 and a ‘Kick off’ meeting and training were then held in Nchelenge, Zambia from 22nd to 25th May. 24 health facilities in Nchelenge participated along with representatives from the SEMA ReACT consortium, the District Health Team and the national integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) coordinator.  

Cascade training sessions for Community Health Workers started on 29th May and ran until 13th June. The trainings covered clinical care, malaria prevention, promotion of health seeking behaviour and management of other childhood diseases. There was a particular focus on how to identify critical or severe febrile illness, identifying danger signs to trigger referrals as well as the administration of rectal artesunate capsules (RAS) to eligible children. In Zambia, phase one of the study started on 5th August following a piloting phase which ran from 2nd July to 4th August.