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Table 1 Challenges and risks encountered in vector control and recommendations for improvement in Namibia
| Challenges and risks encountered | Recommendations for improvement |
|---|---|
| Minimal data is available on susceptibility testing in all malarious regions, small number of sentinel sites and limited mapping data of malaria vector species | Establishing an efficient system of sentinel sites to support monitoring of vector density, infectivity, bionomics and insecticide resistance to guide informed decision-making |
| The possibility of change in behaviour of An. arabiensis from indoor resting to outdoor resting in response to indoor spraying, and a change in daily pattern of biting and host choice in response to ITNs or infectivity rates | Integrated strategies with actions aiming to reduce the selection pressure thus preventing or delaying resistance development, and aiming to reduce dependency on chemical insecticides for vector control |
| Inconsistent community sensitization and low compliance with existing interventions and insufficient community ownership and involvement in malaria vector control activities | Improve information, education and behavioural change communication on vector control interventions and reinforce community engagement and empowerment for participation to successfully implement malaria vector control |
| Limited support institutions with requisite infrastructure to support entomological research; minimal research and academic institutions to build capacity of sufficient and technically sound personnel and the likely hold of resistance development in major malaria vectors to insecticides | Establish a multi-disciplinary national IRM decision-making body coordinated by the NVDCP, and the inherent partner commitment and collaboration required to strengthen entomological laboratory and operations research and implement rational IRM strategies |
| Absence of comprehensive malaria transmission data and minimal utilization of existing entomological data for decision making for vector control | Improve vector surveillance, collect entomological data and strengthen operational research and monitoring and evaluation to guide the scale up of interventions |
| Lack of stakeholders alliance for effective reporting of insecticides used for diseases vector control particularly DDT | Establish stakeholders’ alliance and develop agreed upon roles and responsibilities and standardized format for compilation and reporting on DDT to the focal person of the Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention |
| Non existence of data management for quantities and total cost of insecticide used and cost of spraying cycle for each year to facilitate decision making for vector control | Establish and operationalize a comprehensive entomological database at national level and incorporate record keeping and reporting in training curriculum and courses on IRS and other vector control operations |
| Weak infrastructure (sentinel sites and laboratory and insectary facilities), technical and human resource capacity for entomology laboratory at the established sentinel sites | Seek technical assistance to support entomological surveillance, particularly for capacity building in vector-bionomics and insecticide resistance to operationalize the implementation of the GPIRM |
| Human, financial and logistic resources/capacity to implement, monitor and evaluate IVM is still minimal | In-service training for the entomological laboratory staff in malaria entomology and vector control should be considered will be critical for sustained evidence decision making in the regions |
