Azithromycin for Child Survival in Niger: Programmatic Trial (AVENIR)

The MORDOR trial found that biannual distribution of azithromycin to children 1-59 months old reduced child mortality. The World Health Organization (WHO) released conditional guidelines for this intervention, which include targeting azithromycin distributions to children 1-11 months of age in high mortality settings. The proposed trial aims to demonstrate and evaluate large-scale implementation of azithromycin to children aged 1-11 months old in the context of a programmatic setting while monitoring mortality and resistance antimicrobial resistance.

In the Programmatic Trial, community health centers (also known as "CSIs" or "Centres de Santé Intégrés") will be randomized to one of two arms: 1) programmatic azithro 1-11: biannual oral azithromycin administration to children aged 1-11 months distributed by community health workers or 2) no intervention: no distribution of azithromycin. A total of 2,490 communities within selected CSIs will be included . All communities in both arms receive routine health services offered by community health workers working for the Niger Ministry of Health's community health program. Mortality will be monitored through birth histories. Mortality and morbidity will also be monitored using routinely collected community and clinic visit data. Antimicrobial resistance will be monitored in a subset of eligible CSIs.