Sudan receives additional $30 million to support malaria interventions

Over the next two years, Sudan will receive an additional $30 million from the Global Fund to support malaria interventions. The Grant Approval Committee of the Global Fund met in Geneva this week to review the proposal submitted by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to extend the grant end date to December 2017; and provided positive recommendation. With this additional support the total malaria grant will stands to $116 million for 2015-2017.

According to a press release issued by the UNDP on Wednesday, with this new allocation, the goal to end malaria in Sudan is in reach.

“This is an important gesture from the donor community to Sudan, as the world celebrates the Malaria Day under the theme End Malaria for Good”, said Selva Ramachandran, Country Director for the UNDP.

“The ten years of partnership between the Ministry of Health, the UNDP, and the Global Fund in Sudan has helped in achieving tangible results to end malaria for Good”, Ramachandran continued.

The malaria programme in Sudan has made huge strides. Between 2000 and 2015, the country reduced the number of malaria cases from more than four million to less than one million. Between 2000 and 2015, the number of deaths due to malaria declined by one-third. Malaria still remains a big concern for Sudan with 11 percent of all out-patient consultations and 13.6 percent of all inpatient admissions in hospitals are attributed to the disease.

Malaria also remains one of the biggest causes of illness and death in children under five. The additional funding will help procure bed nets needed to ensure every person in Kassala, Gadraf, White Nile, Blue Nile, Greater Kordofan and Darfur States can sleep under a long lasting insecticide treated net (one net per two people), as well as access to timely diagnosis and treatment services. This is a key milestone in Sudan to end malaria for good.

During the last ten years, more than three million malaria cases were treated annually, 16 million insecticide-treated bed-nets had been distributed and households in two states have been sprayed with insecticides twice a year.

The Global Fund in collaboration with the UNDP is supporting Sudan to strengthen the HIV, tuberculosis and malaria programmes and the health systems. The overall goals of the Fund supported projects are to prevent deaths that are caused by the three diseases, to interrupt transmission of the three diseases, reduce morbidity, and to develop health systems, the statement concludes.