Grand Challenges Canada has awarded a $792,000 scale-up grant supplementing funds secured by MEDA, an international economic development organization that creates business solutions to poverty, to enable TNVS, with the help of a global health researcher at Queen's University, to increase the efficiency of the e-voucher distribution system.
In Tanzania, malaria causes 100,000 deaths each year. Pregnant women and young children are at the highest risk. Since 2011, the Tanzania National Voucher Scheme has used mobile phone text messaging to provide pregnant women with an electronic voucher redeemable at participating retailers for long-lasting incesticidal bed nets for a nominal fee (33 cents). The scheme has made a significant impact on malaria control in Tanzania, but gaps remain--about 40% of women do not redeem the e-voucher.