Funding Bill Brieger | 13 Nov 2007 05:41 am
Malaria Grants Approved
The Global Fund to Fight against AIDS, TB and Malaria at its 14th Board meeting has approved 49% of the 150 eligible proposals received according to The Global Fund Observer (GFO). The number of eligible grants submitted has dropped from 202 in Round 5 and 196 in Round 7, but the malaria grants have fared much better in Round 7.
The attached chart shows a steady increase in approved malaria grants over the past 3 rounds as well as an increased proportion of the total approved grants allocated to malaria. GFO also reports in an increase in funding going to malaria. The approved two-year (Phase 1) budgets for malaria have risen from a total of $198m in Round 5 to $471m in Round 7.
Of the 46 Malaria proposals submitted, 25 (55%) come from Africa. Sixteen (64%) of these African proposals were approved and include Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Liberia, Malawi, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Northern and Southern Sectors of Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The Roll Back Malaria Partnership took an active role in helping develop quality proposals in many of these countries. While the overall news is good, we are reminded by RBM that, “Over 90% of the world’s malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where a child dies very 30 seconds of the mosquito-borne disease,” and therefore we must also think about the nine African malaria proposals that were not accepted and that represent at least a third of sub-Saharan Africa’s population.
The Rolling Continuation Channel (RCC) concept also appears to have kicked in with the 14th Board meeting. A GFATM press release noted that, “The Board has also approved US$ 130 million for renewal of five grants that have reached the end of their five year life.” Details on disease components of this first RCC dispensation are not yet available, but CCMs need to find out how their malaria grants can become eligible for RCC to ensure continuity of malaria control.