ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, February 19, 2023/ — His Excellency Umaro Sissoco Embaló, President of the Republic of Guinea Bissau and Chair of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), has announced the winners of the inaugural ALMA Joyce Kafanabo Awards for Excellence and Innovation.
The awards, issued at the sidelines of the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 18th, celebrate countries that have made significant progress in the digitalisation of national health programmes and enhanced data-driven decision-making to improve health services and outcomes.
The awards are named after Joyce Kafanabo, former Senior Director at ALMA, who passed away in January 2021. Joyce was an outstanding leader, diplomat, visionary, and dedicated mother who was much-loved and held in the highest regard by colleagues, friends, government representatives, development partners, and the community. Before her role at ALMA, Joyce served in the diplomatic service as Minister Plenipotentiary for the Permanent Mission of the United Republic of Tanzania to the UN.
“These awards are a fitting tribute to the legacy of Joyce Kafanabo and the impact she had on the fight against malaria and other diseases, and they serve as a testament to the progress that has been made and the potential for continued success in the fight against these diseases,” said His Excellency President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau and ALMA Chair Umaro Sissoco Embaló.
The ALMA Scorecard for Accountability and Action measures countries’ progress against important malaria, RMNCAH, and NTDs indicators across the continent, with over 40 countries adopting national and sub-national scorecards.
The Excellence and Innovation awards reward nations that have significantly reinforced their country scorecards through public sharing, capacity building at the sub-national level to promote data-driven decision-making, and engaging citizens to improve health services and results.
The Republic of Zambia earned the prize for best malaria scorecard instrument, which it utilizes to produce and track actions through existing accountability systems at national and sub-national levels.
The best RMNCAH (reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health) scorecard tool, which has been decentralized to the county level and shared with important partners, was awarded to the Republic of Kenya.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) got an award for the best neglected tropical diseases scorecard tool, which it utilizes to increase collaboration and coordination among stakeholders, monitor initiatives, identify bottlenecks, and drive action.
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was honoured for the best community scorecard tool, introduced in 55% of districts across the country, and has improved community engagement in health services.
The Republic of Rwanda won the award for best institutionalization of scorecard tools across malaria and RMNCAH. The nation frequently employs cutting-edge strategies when using scorecards, such as their RMNCAH scorecard and integrated malaria and NTDs scorecards. The strategic plan for the nation names the two scorecards as its prary performance and management tools for monitoring the development of indicators.
The Republic of Ghana won the prize for best creative use of scorecard tools, becoming the first to use community-generated scorecard data in its health management information system.im
The United Republic of Tanzania won the award for best innovative use of scorecard tools, including training MPs on scorecard use, translating scorecards into the local language, and developing a mobile app for scorecard data collection.
The best scorecard tool for RMNCAH (reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health) was given to the Republic of Kenya. Kenya’s RMNCAH scorecard has been decentralized to the county level, and it is shared with important country partners at the national, county, and health facility levels.
The United Republic of Tanzania won the award for best innovative use of scorecard tools, including training MPs on scorecard use, translating scorecards into the local language, and developing a mobile app for scorecard data collection.
The best scorecard tool for RMNCAH (reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health) was given to the Republic of Kenya. Kenya’s RMNCAH scorecard has been decentralized to the county level, and it is shared with important country partners at the national, county, and health facility levels.
“Data-driven decision-making is vital in the fight against malaria and other diseases, and these awards highlight and celebrate the enormous progress that is being made. According to Dr. Corine Karema, CEO of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, Member States urgently require an effective surveillance system to provide the necessary intelligence to identify bottlenecks in malaria control and elimination activities, target interventions more effectively, and respond when the impact of malaria activities is threatened.
The awards committee assessed each country using the Scorecard Maturity assessment tool based on five criteria: management use, decentralisation, stakeholder sharing, institutionalisation and political use, and documentation and evaluation. ALMA is still committed to assisting the winners as well as all of the African nations in their initiatives to enhance healthcare outcomes and give citizens more control over their lives.
