Associate Professor,
Department of Microbiology,
All India Institute of Medical Sciences,
Bibinagar
Title of the project (Compliance, severity and relapses in case of P. vivax infections): Mobile application-based tracking and its role in improving compliance to primaquine radical therapy and follow up of P. vivax malaria cases in highly endemic districts of Telangana.
Summary:
Under Malaria Program in Telangana state, primaquine radical therapy regimen is being implemented with the help of Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) workers in the community. However, no objective means of assessing drug intake and patient compliance with the 14-day radical primaquine treatment regimen is available presently. This study has been planned primarily to know the role of mobile application-based tracking in improving compliance to primaquine radical therapy by complementing ASHA’s supervision and improving follow up of P. vivax malaria cases compared to routine program surveillance and to determine the factors affecting adherence to primaquine radical therapy. Secondary Objectives are assessment of G6PD deficiency status among the vivax/ mixed malaria cases and also to assess contribution of the private sector in the form of private practitioners, nursing homes and diagnostic centres in enrolling the positive malaria cases. It is planned as a Prospective Cohort study to be conducted over a two-year period in five malaria endemic districts of Telangana. As it is a surveillance study, universal sampling concept will be applied; around 300 participants are expected to be recruited for the study. Participant will be supervised by ASHA worker for compliance with the treatment regimen, aided by mobile application in five target districts, with rest of the 28 districts of Telangana serving as controls, wherein routine supervision, without the aid of mobile application, will be continued. Determining compliance rates among these two study groups i.e., 1. Supervised by ASHA alone and 2. ASHAs supervision complemented with mobile based application will help to pinpoint strategies to be implemented for better adherence to primaquine radical treatment to achieve the goal of National Framework for Malaria Elimination in India (2016–2030).
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