From 9th – 11th June 2026, NIMR had an Annual Joint Conference in Arusha, the Malaria Atlas Project (MAP) Dar team at the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) hosted a symposium to demonstrate the collaborative work achieved for the Tanzania School Malaria and Parasitaemia Survey (SMPS) alongside the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP). A key highlight was the presentation of the Intelligent SMPS Dashboard, a robust, integrated web-based platform designed to modernize data workflows. This interactive tool empowers decision-makers to move beyond static reports by offering dynamic visualizations, including interactive prevalence maps and trend analyses. Users can filter data by epidemiological strata, region, and council, facilitating real-time assessment of local performance and evidence-based strategic planning.

In addition to the dashboard, we presented recent research findings titled “The hidden asymptomatic malaria reservoir among school-aged children in Tanzania: Age, Sex, and spatial heterogeneity across councils.” This study provided critical evidence demonstrating that a substantial proportion of malaria prevalence among school-aged children is driven by asymptomatic infections rather than symptomatic ones. The research further illustrated the significant geographical heterogeneity in these infections across different councils, underscoring the urgent need for tailored, subnational malaria control interventions and more integrated school-based health and nutrition strategies.