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Malaria is known to be endemic throughout Zambia and continues to be a major public health problem. Eighty three percent (83 %) of Zambian population is reported to be living in malaria high risk areas and the remaining 17 percent is reported living in malaria low risk areas. Zambia has a 16 percent malaria national prevalence. Malaria peak transmission periods are usually during the rainy season ? from November to April and the main transmitting vectors are anopheles species; funestus, gambiae and arabiensis. Plasmodium falciparum is the main transmitting parasite accounting for about 98 percent of all malaria infections in the country. Other species of plasmodium that can be found in Zambia are ovale and malariae. The main intervention measures used in the prevention and control of malaria in Zambia are; Indoor Residual spray (IRS), mass distribution of insecticide treated mosquito nets (ITNs) and Intermittent Prevention Treatment (IPT). The main aim of this thesis is to analyze the efficiency and effectiveness of the the current intervention measures used to prevent and control malaria in Zambia. I approached this issue from time the ?roll back malaria ? project was intiated in 1998 up to 2011. With help of the changes introduced to the health sector under the sector wide approach reforms in 1995, the public health approach in the fight against malaria was even much widened. The second aim of my thesis is to offer acceptable alternative interventions that can used in the prevention and control of malaria. In this qualitative type of research, I chose to use secondary analyzation of data as my research method. I obtained much of the information from studying health literature, journals, laws and other online publications, which I found to be relevant to the topic at hand. I also consulted with the Zambian ministry of health through provincial health offices as well as via district health offices. A series of three open research questions was used as a guide to obtaining the much needed data. However, the results revealed that the current intervention measures used in the prevention and control of malaria are efficient and effective. In 2009, Zambia recorded a 66 percent reduction in deaths due to malaria. This success recorded clearly surpasses the target set by the ?roll back malaria? 2006 which was aimed at reducing mortality due to malaria by 50 percent by year 2010. However, parasitemia results still show great variation in prevalence between urban areas and rural. This inequality is also evident in the access to health care as well. There is much need to scale up on intervention measures if a Zambia without malaria is to be achieved. This work can as used as a public health tool in the prevention of malaria in Zambia and also as a road map to future research concerning malaria and public health.

Le paludisme, qui est la maladie à transmission vectorielle la plus répandue, provoque depuis quelques années de plus en plus d’épidémies liées à des anomalies climatiques. Dans de nombreux pays endémiques comme l’Ouganda, les changements climatiques représentent une préoccupation importante pour la santé publique. Des débats existent toutefois quant à l’évolution future du paludisme car la majorité des études de prédictions ne considèrent pas les effets de certains facteurs anthropiques qui influencent la transmission (ex. les interventions de contrôle antivectorielles). Ainsi, les objectifs de cette thèse étaient donc 1) d’estimer les associations entre le risque du paludisme, des variables de l’environnement (comme les précipitations, la température, l’humidité et la végétation) et les interventions antivectorielles (moustiquaires imprégnées d’insecticide longue durée, MILD, et pulvérisation intra-domiciliaire, PID) pour 2) prédire la distribution du paludisme selon des scénarios de climat futur. À cette fin, les associations ont été étudiées à partir (i) des données d’une cohorte d’enfants de trois sous régions d’Ouganda à partir de modèles mixtes linéaires généralisés basés sur une distribution log-binomiale; (ii) des données de surveillance passive du paludisme dans la population générale de six sous régions, à partir de modèles mixtes linéaires généralisés basés sur une distribution binomiale négative. Les associations étudiées au sein de la population générale ont ensuite été utilisées pour projeter le risque futur selon 14 simulations climatiques et deux scénarios d’émission de gaz à effet de serre (RCP4.5 et RCP8.5). Pour le premier objectif, les résultats de l’analyse des données de la cohorte infantile ont mis en évidence une variabilité sous régionale dans la forme (linéaire et non linéaire), la direction et l'ampleur des associations entre les variables de l’environnement et le risque de paludisme. L'ajustement du modèle de régression pour la PID a modifié l'ampleur et/ou la direction des associations environnement-paludisme, suggérant un effet d'interaction. À partir des données de la population générale, l’analyse groupée des six sous régions a montré que les interventions réduisaient le risque de paludisme d'environ 35 % avec les MILD et de 63 % avec la PID; des interactions significatives ont été observées entre certaines variables environnementales et les interventions de lutte antivectorielle. À l’échelle sous régionale, une variabilité de la forme des relations environnement-paludisme (linéarité, non linéarité, direction) et de l'influence des interventions a aussi été observée. Les prédictions du risque de paludisme avec les changements climatiques suggèrent des tendances à la hausse des cas de paludisme en absence d’interventions à l’horizon 2050, bien qu’une grande variabilité dans les prédictions existent selon le modèle de climat considéré (médianes et min-max de la période historique vs RCP 4.5 : 16 785, 9 902 - 74 382 vs 21 289, 11 796 - 70 606). En considérant l’effet des interventions, une réduction du nombre de cas annuels médian de 35%, 63% et à 76% est prédite avec les MILD seules, la PID seule et la combinaison de MILD et PID, respectivement. Cette thèse a donc permis de clarifier l’influence des MILD et de la PID sur les relations entre variables de l’environnement et le paludisme et de démontrer l’importance de considérer les mesures de contrôle antivectorielle dans les analyses du risque épidémiologique de paludisme et dans les prédictions du risque avec les changements climatiques. / Malaria, which is the most widespread vector-borne disease, has in recent years caused more and more epidemics linked to climatic anomalies. In several malaria endemic countries such as Uganda, climate change is a major public health concern. Debates exist, however, about the future evolution of malaria in relation to climate as the majority of prediction studies do not consider the effects of certain anthropogenic factors that influence transmission (e.g. vector control interventions). Therefore, the objectives of this thesis were 1) to estimate the associations between malaria risk, environmental variables (such as precipitation, temperature, humidity which are related to climate and vegetation) and vector interventions (long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets - LLINs, and indoor residential spraying - IRS), and to 2) predict malaria distribution under future climate scenarios. The associations were studied with (i) data from a cohort of children from three sub-regions of Uganda using generalized linear mixed models based on a log-binomial distribution; (ii) data from passive surveillance of malaria in the general population of six sub-regions, using generalized linear mixed models based on a negative binomial distribution. The associations studied in the general population were then used to predict future risk under 14 climate simulations and two greenhouse gas emission scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). For the first objective, the results of the analysis of the infant cohort data highlighted a sub-regional variability in the form (linear and nonlinear), the direction and the magnitude of the associations between the environmental variables. and the risk of malaria. Adjusting the regression model for IRS changed the magnitude and/or direction of environment-malaria associations, suggesting an interaction effect. Using data from the general population, the pooled analysis of the six sub-regions showed that the interventions reduced malaria risk by approximately 35% with LLINs and by 63% with IRS; significant interactions were observed between some environmental variables and vector control interventions. At the sub-regional scale, variability in the form of environment-malaria relationships (linearity, non-linearity, direction) and in the influence of interventions was also observed. Predictions of malaria risk with climate change suggest upward trends in malaria cases in the absence of interventions by 2050, although great variability in the predictions exists depending on the climate model considered (medians and min-max of the historical period vs RCP 4.5: 16,785, 9,902 - 74,382 vs 21,289, 11,796 - 70,606). Considering the effect of interventions, a reduction in the median number of annual cases of 35%, 63% and 76% is predicted for LLINs alone, IRS alone and the combination of LLINs and IRS, respectively. This thesis examined the influence of LLINs and IRS on the relationships between environmental variables and malaria and demonstrates the importance of considering vector control measures in analyzes of the epidemiological risk of malaria and in its prediction with climate change.