Regional Malaria Modelling Translational fellowship: Bridging the capacity gap between modelled evidence to national strategy, policy and programme decisions
1
Malaria, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Pretoria, South Africa
2
1 Statistical Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
3
2 Centre for Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Oxford Univerisity, Oxford, United Kingdom
Popul. Med. 2026;8(Supplement Supplement 1):A1120
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Use of modelled evidence to inform strategic planning, policy processes and programmatic decisions requires country decision makers to be trained in how to engage with models to understand their capabilities, limitations. Traditionally, short workshops and courses have been developed to build capacity for translating modelling evidence with limited long-term success. We designed and implemented a six-month Regional Malaria Modelling Translational fellowship
METHODS:
A multi-stage approach was used to enroll targeted country decision makers from 9 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with each country requested to nominate 2-3 participants. Official communication to respective ministries and departments of health was done for each country to sensitize for fellow participation. The fellowship consisted of three 1-week in-person blocks at the University of Cape Town and 90-minute online sessions on second Wednesday of the month conducted over 6 months in 2025. Results, The fellowship enrolled 21 fellows of which 28.6% (6) were female from 7 out of 9 countries namely South Africa, Eswatini, Namibia, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique & Ghana. Represented were Deputy director general, Programme managers, Monitoring and evaluation leads and information officers. The attendance over the 3 in-person sessions was over 95% while virtual sessions 85% was achieved. Curriculum modules included leveraging data, understanding & interpreting models, country capstone and models to implementation. This covered topics such as data inputs visualizations & interpretations, assumptions, contextualizing models and uncertainty, sub-national tailoring, health economics for effective impact, funding landscape, prioritization and allocation, & communications and collaboration.
CONCLUSIONS:
Sustaining engagement and interest across the fellowship was achieved through effective advocacy and sensitization with countries decision making structures. Additionally, a robust curriculum & capstone projects aligned to country contexts provided for engagement and cross learning between fellows. The cadres representation of senior leadership, technical staff also created a balanced learning environment.
Use of modelled evidence to inform strategic planning, policy processes and programmatic decisions requires country decision makers to be trained in how to engage with models to understand their capabilities, limitations. Traditionally, short workshops and courses have been developed to build capacity for translating modelling evidence with limited long-term success. We designed and implemented a six-month Regional Malaria Modelling Translational fellowship
METHODS:
A multi-stage approach was used to enroll targeted country decision makers from 9 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with each country requested to nominate 2-3 participants. Official communication to respective ministries and departments of health was done for each country to sensitize for fellow participation. The fellowship consisted of three 1-week in-person blocks at the University of Cape Town and 90-minute online sessions on second Wednesday of the month conducted over 6 months in 2025. Results, The fellowship enrolled 21 fellows of which 28.6% (6) were female from 7 out of 9 countries namely South Africa, Eswatini, Namibia, Zambia, Angola, Mozambique & Ghana. Represented were Deputy director general, Programme managers, Monitoring and evaluation leads and information officers. The attendance over the 3 in-person sessions was over 95% while virtual sessions 85% was achieved. Curriculum modules included leveraging data, understanding & interpreting models, country capstone and models to implementation. This covered topics such as data inputs visualizations & interpretations, assumptions, contextualizing models and uncertainty, sub-national tailoring, health economics for effective impact, funding landscape, prioritization and allocation, & communications and collaboration.
CONCLUSIONS:
Sustaining engagement and interest across the fellowship was achieved through effective advocacy and sensitization with countries decision making structures. Additionally, a robust curriculum & capstone projects aligned to country contexts provided for engagement and cross learning between fellows. The cadres representation of senior leadership, technical staff also created a balanced learning environment.
| eISSN: | 2654-1459 |
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