Retrospective Analysis of a School-Based Malaria Treatment Programme Demonstrates a Positive Impact on Health and Education Outcomes in Mangochi District, Malawi

This report presents a retrospective evaluation of the school-based malaria treatment programme implemented in Mangochi district, Malawi. The teachers were trained to identify and treat children suffering from malaria. The evaluation was undertaken using the school administrative records. The intervention and comparison schools were matched using propensity score matching. The impact was assessed using generalised linear modelling of family Poisson and also Kaplan–Meier for survival analysis. The results showed significant reductions in general absenteeism and grade repetition by students. Treating the cost-savings arising from the reduced rate of repetition as the benefits of the programme, the study showed that benefits far outweighed costs.