Financial constraints: A looming threat to malaria prevention- ISRAD


Funding trends by the public sector and donor partners are discouraging leaving an annual gap of an estimated two point six billion dollars for malaria prevention from 2011 to 2020. 

The huge financial constraint stakeholders say presents a looming threat to malaria prevention and therefore requires a holistic approach and more financial assistance to help fight the disease. 

This they believe will ensure healthy lives and promote the wellbeing of all ages as stipulated in sections of the SDGs.  

At a Regional Stakeholders meeting held in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional Coordinator of the Institute of Social Research and Development, ISRAD, Ghana, Abdul Razak Issah proposed the need for strong advocacy to enhance domestic funding for malaria interventions. 

GBC’s Isaac Asare reports that, survey has it that 91 percent of reported deaths from malaria occurs in sub- Saharan Africa, where pregnant women and children under 5 are the worst afflicted. 

Malaria therefore continue to be a major public health concern that cannot not be controlled by the country’s health sector alone. 

The situation, however calls for practical interventions tailored at improving domestic resource mobilization for malaria activities. 

This is because donor support in terms of funding has significantly decline. 

The stakeholder engagement by ISRAD was to advocate for resource mobilization to help in the prevention of malaria since the allocated 0.5 percent of the assemblies’ common fund meant for malaria prevention activities is inaccessible and woefully inadequate. 

The forum funded by UKAID under ISRAD’s advocacy project dubbed: ‘Advocacy for Resource for Malaria Stoppage, ARMS’ initiative requests for the release of the 0.5 allocation which states that the half percent of the fund should be utilized to support the district response initiative for malaria prevention.  

The initiative he indicated seeks to select a group of five people in every six district of the ten administrative regions to advocate for the release of the said allocation.

The interventions currently recommended by the WHO for the control of malaria are the use of long-lasting insecticide bed nets and indoor residual spraying for vector control.  

In view of this, ISRAD has for the past years engaged community members on the proper use of insecticide bed nets and the usage of rapid diagnosis test kits for malaria.  

Mr. Razak Issah, who outlined other implemented strategies for malaria prevention activities, said it was important for health seekers to avail themselves for malaria treatment on suspicion of any symptom related to the disease.

In a presentation, the Regional Focal Person for Malaria, Sydney Abilba disclosed that the region has an under five case fatality rate of 1.0 percent, which is an improvement over last year’s fatality ratio of 1.4 percent. 

The region he stressed also saw an increase in total malaria cases of about 53.7 percent last year with Bolgatanga Municipal and the Builsa North District leading in the trend of the total OPD malaria cases. 

On the other hand, the Builsa District surprisingly had as low as negative 6.3 percent in the total malaria cases recorded. 

Regional stakeholders meeting was attended by regional and district health management teams among other health officials. 

GBC