Methodology for Evaluating National Arboviral Disease Prevention and Control Strategies in the Americas

Abstract

The IMS-Arbovirus is a model that provides a methodological framework for arboviral disease prevention and control. It divides the compendium of actions to be taken into the following components, which are not listed in their order of importance: management, epidemiology (with emphasis on health surveillance), laboratory, patient care (clinical), integrated vector management (IVM), and environment (with emphasis on water, sanitation, and hygiene). It also proposes common crosscutting themes for each component: operations research and health communication and promotion for behavioral change. Each component and crosscutting theme is overseen and executed by personnel trained for this purpose. The Integrated Management Strategy for Arbovirus Disease Prevention and Control in the Americas contains a group of indicators selected by the countries, and a trained professional regularly conducts an informal evaluation of the strategy. This evaluation may be based on what the coordinator for each component or the participants in the process report, often based only on their own experiences. Generically, this methodology attempts to organize ideas and the methodologies that should be followed for best performance in an evaluation. The IMS-Arbovirus currently includes monitoring and evaluation from the outset, thus systematically coordinating its planning, monitoring, and evaluation. The main objective is for monitoring and evaluation to serve as a good mechanism for management, course correction, and accountability to advance and improve the quality and impact of management with the preparation of the IMS Arbovirus. The specific objectives are as follows: determine the progress made and barriers implementing the IMS-Arbovirus, formulate recommendations to improve the IMS-Arbovirus Implementation process, and create a monitoring plan based on the evaluation's results.