Malawi gets K1.6tn from Global Fund
Ministry of Health says Malawi has received $2 billion (about K1.6 trillion) since 2003 when the Global Fund started supporting the country in health interventions.
Ministry of Health Principal Secretary Dr. Charles Mwansambo made the announcement on Friday in Lilongwe during a press briefing marking 20 years of The Global Fund support in Malawi.
He said that during the period, the country has signed 10 grants and funds were disbursed towards the fight against HIV and Aids, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria.
Mwansambo said: “The Global Fund investments in Malawi to date have contributed to significant results across all three diseases, including recently Covid-19 prevention and treatment.
“The funds have also helped us build stronger systems for health while ensuring integrated, high-impact people-centred and comprehensive healthcare services.”
Commenting specifically on the impact of the funds on HIV and Aids, he said over 870 000 people living with HIV are on antiretroviral therapy (ART).
He also said Malawi is on track to achieve the United Nations Programme on HIV and Aids (UNAids) targets to have 95 percent of people living with HIV knowing their status; 95 percent of people who know their status being on treatment; and 95 percent of people on treatment with suppressed viral loads by 2025.
On TB, Mwansambo said Malawi has notified and treated over 100 000 TB cases, including 610 multi-drug resistant TB cases and 9 100 children between 2015 and 2020.
He also said TB-related mortality and morbidity have reduced by 46 percent and 26 percent in 2020 respectively, compared to the 2015 baseline, hence surpassing the Global End TB targets for 2020.
On malaria, Mwansambo said the malaria programme has equally registered positive progress.
Speaking on behalf of The Global Fund advocates in Malawi, Health and Rights Education Programme executive director Maziko Matemba said the civil society is excited with the impact made by Global Fund resources which he have saved 38 million lives globally since 2002.
