This report covers the period of 01/01/06 to 31/12/06 of a two-year planning and appeal process.
In a world of global challenges, continued poverty, inequity, and increasing vulnerability to disasters and disease, the International Federation with its global network, works to accomplish its Global Agenda, partnering with local community and civil society to prevent and alleviate human suffering from disasters, diseases and public health emergencies.
In brief
Programme Summary:
The global malaria programme continued to grow rapidly with an increasing number of integrated campaigns. These campaigns have been followed by longer-term (three years) Keep-Up programmes conducted by volunteers to ensure proper utilization of nets at the community and household levels. Due to a lack of sufficient funding, it has not been possible to give support to all of the National Societies that wished to take part in national integrated campaigns or in Keep-Up programmes. However, great results have been achieved in a very short time, with the distribution of 2.2 million long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) in Niger, 880,000 LLINs in Sierra Leone and in the large distribution of LLINs in Angola, Kenya and Rwanda. The Keep-Up programmes first started in Togo in 2005, and were then expanded to the National Society in Mozambique and Kenya in 2006. The National Society in Ghana, Rwanda and Sierra Leone are planning for Keep-Up programmes for 2007 if funding is available.
Financial support for malaria activities during 2006 totalled approximately CHF 2 million. In addition, the carry-over from the Canadian Red Cross pledge and the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM) project in 2005, allowed for large financial support to the Niger and Sierra Leone campaigns. The financial support received for Keep-Up programmes was sufficient to meet minimum needs, but insufficient to provide the consultations and programmatic assistance needed by National Societies. Several donor National Societies made some funds available to undertake operational research on volunteering related to the Keep-Up programme. These studies and the development of community volunteer tools to reach households and give proper health messages will continue throughout 2007.
Goal: The International Federation's malaria initiative aims to work with partners to scale-up malaria control in endemic countries in order to reduce malaria cases and deaths by at least 50 per cent by 2015.
Needs: The total 2006-2007 budget is CHF 34,095,000. The 2006 year appeal amounted to CHF 17.8 million of which approximately 46 per cent was covered in 2006. As a result of strong advocacy at the Secretariat level, an additional USD 6 million was granted to the International Federation's European Union (E.U.) Brussels office from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006. With this amount the appeal reached approximately 70 per cent coverage in 2006.
No. of people we help: More than 8.3 million children under the age of five received LLINs and benefited from this valuable malaria control intervention. Approximately 7 million children are targeted to receive nets in 2007. While the International Federation procures some of these nets, other partners contribute substantially to distribution efforts. As a result of the 2006 net distributions, more than 174,338 malaria deaths have been averted, according to statistics provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Our Partners: The Malaria Partnership is made up of more than 25 international agencies, institutions and NGOs in addition to the personnel of targeted countries. Weekly global conference calls are the principal means for coordinating, collaborating, sharing resources, and planning national efforts. More information can be found at http://www.ifrc.org/what/health/diseases/malaria/index.asp
Current context
Since 2002, the distribution of insecticidal mosquito nets increased ten-fold in sub-Saharan Africa. This is largely due to the International Federation's pilot efforts in Ghana, Zambia and Togo, which demonstrated to the world's public health community that free distribution of long- lasting insecticidal nets was the only new way to meet global goals, and that such large-scale efforts were logistically possible. This paradigm shift was widely accepted by donors and governments and has resulted in a number of nationwide free LLIN distribution campaigns. This approach is now accepted as a viable option for accelerated malaria control.
National Societies played a valuable role in providing additional manpower in large campaigns, and in promoting social mobilization, community education and the necessary follow-up. The International Federation's global model - the Keep-Up Programme has also played a valuable role in building the capacity of National Societies. Monthly visits by volunteers ensure that nets are appropriately used, and that newborns and newly pregnant women receive the vaccinations and services needed. Ensuring a sustainable and quality "Keep-Up" programme in all countries where LLINs have been distributed on a wide-scale, should be a high priority for Regional Delegations and the International Federation, since it also helps fill the gap in the lack of health personnel at the community level.
National Societies engaged in the Keep-Up programmes are building on their Community- Based First Aid (CBFA) competences and applying the African Red Cross/Red Crescent Health Strategy (ARCHI) 2010 strategy to manage volunteers. These efforts need to be vigorously supported in future.
For further information please contact:
Jean Roy, Senior Public Health Advisor, Health and Care Department; email: jean.roy@ifrc.org; Telephone: +41 22 730 4419; Fax: +41 22 733 0395
Marianne Monclair, Senior Public Health Officer, Health and Care Department; email: Marianne.monclair@ifrc.org; Telephone: + 41 22 730 4365; Fax: +41 22 733 0395
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