Transcending politics and using evidence-based treatment policies and public health approaches in combating malaria: The Amazon Malaria Initiative (AMI) and the Amazon Network for the Surveillance of Anti-malarial Drug Resistance (RAVREDA) Partnership

AMI-RAVREDA is a partnership involving governments and institutions collaborating complementarily and synergistically to reduce the burden of malaria in the Amazon Countries. AMI is an initiative launched by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with Management Sciences for Health (MSH) / Rational Pharmaceutical Management Plus (RPM Plus); the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO); United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); and the United States Pharmacopeia Drug Quality Information Program (USP DQI) as partners. RAVREDA is a network formed by country representatives from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela, with technical support from PAHO, and partners with other service delivery, advocacy, research, and academic organizations / institutions. Together, AMI and RAVREDA transform global, regional, and national malaria goals into realities that favorably impact communities and populations.

This work describes the rationale, development, and progress of AMI-RAVREDA; analyze the nature and dynamics of the partnership involved in the initiative and the network; illustrate the design of and methods used in the conduct and implementation of the program; and present the corresponding results and outcomes, including lessons learnt in the process.

A steering committee comprising representatives of partner organizations and countries meets twice yearly and defines project direction, coordination and consensus on partnership related issues. An annual technical meeting is held in a different country each year, providing a forum where coordinators present results of the previous year's activities. Technical discussions serve as the basis for succeeding programmatic decisions.

During its five year existence, the partnership conducted 77 anti-malarial drug efficacy trials and permitted development of instruments and methodologies which have been used in defining malaria treatment policies in all participating countries while concurrently facilitating capacity building, and inter-country collaboration.

The partnership has resulted in close collaboration among governmental, non-governmental and international agencies; facilitated program alignment and harmonization in all levels of work; and bridged gaps between policy and practice.