“GF will explore expanding the approach of using current country grants to support cross-border interventions,” said Linden Morrison, head of the department of the GF overseeing grants. “GF is all about partnership and if this initiative is successful, it will be due to the excellent support of all the partners working in both countries.”
GF is an international financing institution dedicated to attracting and disbursing resources to prevent and treat HIV, AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. It promotes and finances partnerships between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities.
Malaria is currently causing an estimated 660 000 deaths each year and 90 percent of these occur in Africa.
However, financing of malaria control has greatly improved. Ownership of mosquito nets in sub-Saharan Africa has risen from three percent of homes in 2000 to 53 percent in 2010 and more than 1.1 million malaria deaths have been averted.
Morrison said while both malaria morbidity and mortality was on the decrease worldwide, countries should guard against complacency. “In spite of the impressive reductions in malaria deaths and cases worldwide, such progress is fragile and could be quickly reversed if the level of investment is not sustained. We need to maintain the current momentum,” he said.
The GF is currently supporting three malaria grants in Zambia and Zimbabwe, with two grants worth $22 million for Zambia, and a $35 million grant for Zimbabwe.
The Zam-Zim cross-border malaria initiative is part of the Trans-Zambezi Malaria Initiative and aligns with existing frameworks such as the SADC Malaria Strategy Framework of 2007-2015.
Post published in: News