Twenty-six districts that have benefited from free Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) to control malaria since 2015 will lose the intervention from 2027 due to funding constraints.
The affected districts, which are currently supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Global Fund, will have to rely on insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) to prevent malaria.
The Oversight Officer of the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) of the Global Fund, Mr Ken Yeboah, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ meeting in Accra yesterday.
Ten of the districts, he said, were supported by USAID in the Northern and North East Regions, while the remaining 16 were supported by the Global Fund in the Upper West, Upper East and Ashanti Regions.
Mr Yeboah said the last spraying exercise for this year in the 26 districts ended in June.
He, however, mentioned that the discontinuation would not affect the prison service, which also benefited from the programme.
He noted that the major challenge was to ensure that the affected districts effectively adapted to the use of ITNs without triggering a surge in malaria cases.
Against that background, the Founder and Executive Director of Hope for Future Generations (HFFG), Dr Cecilia Senoo, called on civil society organisations (CSOs) to intensify advocacy on malaria and speak up for vulnerable populations as donor funding declined.
She expressed concern that malaria remained one of the key diseases responsible for the deaths of children, yet it received little attention in public discourse compared with HIV and tuberculosis (TB).
“You don’t hear anything about malaria,” she said.
Dr Senoo was speaking at the meeting, held to validate a SMART Advocacy Plan on resource mobilisation in the context of the government’s Free Primary Health Care Policy and dwindling donor funding.
She said with USAID resources now channelled directly to the government and limited Global Fund allocations, Ghana would increasingly have to rely on domestic resources to sustain malaria control efforts.
“With USAID resources now channelled directly to government, and with limited Global Fund allocations, the country must increasingly rely on domestic resources.
“Malaria is rising because of the funding cuts. The country has to take charge,” she emphasised.
Dr Senoo added that donors were increasingly prioritising impact, transparency and accountability in their funding decisions.
She expressed concern that CSOs had been working in silos and had not done enough advocacy on malaria.
“Our role as CSOs is to play our watchdog role. Unfortunately, we are not doing it,” she said.
She challenged CSOs to distinguish themselves and continue speaking for beneficiaries, particularly pregnant women and children, even “if people give you money to keep quiet.”
Dr Senoo said the SMART Advocacy Plan was an initiative under the Global Fund Grant Cycle 7 (GC7) and Grant Cycle 8 (GC8) framework.
She urged members to define clear outcomes for the programme and commit to actions that could continue after funding ended.
On sustainability, she said donors and philanthropists were increasingly monitoring social media and online activities to identify active CSOs for support.
She, therefore, urged malaria advocates to position the current project strategically in order to attract alternative funding after it ends in December.
Dr Senoo also highlighted a shift in donor strategy, with more funding expected to be channelled through the government for CSO implementation.
“The Global Fund thinking is that money should go to the government and government should work with civil society,” she indicated.
Moreover, she advised CSOs to build stronger relationships with the government to remain relevant under the emerging funding architecture.
BY NORMAN COOPER
Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
