Akros strengthens national health systems in developing countries. Akros uses sophisticated but sustainable tools to collect essential health data and then teach the counterparts how to use that data effectively. Akros believes that if the right systems and tools are deployed in the right places at the right time, many lives can be saved and the quality of those lives raised.
What Akros does
Malaria Prevention
Community Surveillance - Akros designed, deployed and scaled an innovative, community-level surveillance platform to assist Zambia in achieving malaria elimination. Close to 1,000 Community Health Workers now send weekly malaria reports through DHIS2 mobile phones.
Entomological Surveillance - Akros helped the Zambian government design and scale a groundbreaking, low-cost, decentralized routine entomological surveillance system. Now empowered with timely, spatial data on vectors, Zambia can better target its malaria interventions.
Genotyping - By tracing the exact pattern of malaria transmission through genotypic profiling, Akros can understand and predict the spatial pattern of parasite transmission. Each malaria parasite has a unique genetic code, and Akros is extracting these codes from hundreds of malaria cases.
IRS/MSPRAY - Indoor Residual Spraying is one of the best tools Akros has to fight malaria. But unless Akros can accurately track where the spraying is actuallyoccurring and then compare those data to case management or vector data, how can Akros know if the efforts are reaping benefits? Akros has developed the mSpray® tool to solve that very problem.
Malaria Elimination - Akros believes that malaria elimination is possible in a country like Zambia. It’s going to take a few things: Knowing exactly where the malaria is, applying your interventions in the right places and in the right capacities, and investing in the capacity building and technical assistance for the national malaria programs.
Water and Sanitation
Akros teamed with the Zambia Ministry of Local Government and Housing and UNICEF Zambia to create an innovative mobile phone system that will show, on a monthly basis, exactly which villages do not have adequate latrines. Using this information, UNICEF, Akros and Zambian government stakeholders can specifically assist these villages to increase the number of their latrines, thus impacting their health.
Health and Data Systems
Health Management Information Systems - Akros designs systems with these factors in mind as well as ensuring that they are usable on a large scale within the host country’s technical capacity.
MHealth - Akros has developed and deployed mobile phone data collection applications that are being used all over Zambia, for applications such as community-level malaria monitoring and community-level sanitation monitoring. And it’s working, driving up the amount and accuracy of data being reported every day.
Program Management - Akros is based right in the heart of Sub-Saharan Africa in Lusaka, Zambia. This proximity makes the program developments and management targeted and focused to the realities of work in the field. Akros provides data collection support and intervention management, as well as scoping and strategy support.
Capacity Building
Akros uses a unique strategy for all its efforts in the developing world. Akros works directly with the host country counterparts to develop highly efficient and innovative programs to address diseases. Along the way, Akros shares with the host country counterparts how to do the same. It is a holistic process – everything from advocacy and donor management to strategic planning and program implementation. This creates a firm foundation which will provide health and wellness for generations to come, and all of this without heavy reliance on Akros or other external organizations.
Akros provides M&E training for international government and NGO agencies.
Akros provides DHIS2 training for health informatics professionals.
Akros provides case management training for community-health workers and health facility personnel.
Akros has trained thousands of community-health workers on disease surveillance and response.
