UCSF

Thailand's National Malaria Elimination Strategy 2017-2026 seeks to increase domestic support and financing for malaria elimination. During 2018-2020, through a series of training sessions, public health officials in Thailand utilized foci-level malaria data to engage subdistrict-level government units known as Local Administrative Organizations (LAOs) with the aim of increasing their understanding of their local malaria situation, collaboration with public health networks, and advocacy for financial support of targeted interventions in villages within their jurisdictions. As a result of these efforts, total LAO funding support for malaria nearly doubled from the 2017 baseline to 2020. In 2021, a novel "LAO collaboration" feature was added to Thailand's national malaria information system that enables tracking and visualization of LAO financial support of malaria in areas with transmission, by year, down to the subdistrict level. This case study describes Thailand's experience implementing the LAO engagement strategy, quantifying and monitoring the financial support mobilized from LAOs, and results from a qualitative study in five high-performance provinces examining factors and approaches that foster successful local collaboration between LAOs, public health networks, and communities for malaria prevention and response. Results from the study showed that significant malaria endemicity or local outbreaks helped spur collaboration in multiple provinces. Increases in LAO support and involvement were attributable to four approaches employed by public health officials: (a) strengthening malaria literacy and response capacity of LAOs, (b) organizational leadership in response to outbreaks, (c) utilization of structural incentives, and (d) multisectoral involvement in malaria response. In two provinces, capacity building of LAOs in malaria vector control, following a precedent set by Thailand's dengue programme, enabled LAO personnel to play both funding and implementation roles in local malaria response. Wider replication of the LAO engagement strategy across Thailand may sustain gains and yield efficiencies in the fight against malaria as the vector-borne disease workforce declines. Lessons from Thailand's experience may be useful for malaria programmes in other geographies to support the goals and sustainability of elimination and prevention of re-establishment by improving financing through local collaboration between the health system and elected officials.