More than $3.5 billion needed to combat malaria in Africa

WHO country representative in The Gambia
Dr Thomas Sukwa

Africa needs to mobilize US$3.6 billion to fully fund malaria control plans and programmes from 2013 to 2015, WHO country representative in The Gambia has said.

Dr Thomas Sukwa said this amount is in addition to about US$4.4 billion already mobilised from international partners and African governments.

Speaking to journalists in Banjul during a press briefing ahead of the 2013 World Malaria Day on 25 April, the WHO country representative said there is need for increase in domestic funding in Africa, where the proportion of domestic funding estimated as part of overall funding was only 32% in 2011 compared to 43% in Asia and 86% in Latin America.

“To highlight the funding gap, a campaign for the three years will be launched on World Malaria Day [2013] under the theme ‘Invest in the Future: Defeat Malaria’,” he said.

History has shown that decrease in financial support for fighting malaria, particularly in areas where significant progress has been made, leads to a resurgence of the disease, thereby reversing years of efforts and investment. 

“Therefore, it is crucial that we stay on course as malaria resurgence will remain a persistent threat until the disease is eliminated altogether,” Dr Sukwa said.

Successful malaria control is critical to progress on all the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - goals 4, 5 and 6 - as well as making significant contribution to progress in other areas including reducing school absenteeism and fighting poverty.

Alarming rate of diabetes in Gambia

The rate of diabetes in The Gambia is alarming, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Fatim Badjie, said as The Gambia joined other countries around the world to commemorate World Diabetes Day on 14^th November.

Health Nutrition and Population Statistics, the World Bank’s comprehensive database of health, nutrition and population (HNP) statistics, has it that diabetes prevalence in The Gambia among the population ages 20 to 79 is 4.26%, in 2010.  However, though the rate of diabetes is said to be increasing, there is no latest statistics available as to the estimated percentage of the population with the disease or at risk of the disease.

Minister Badjie

The Health Minister noted that efforts must be employed to contain the situation.  “There is an urgent need for action to protect the health of our people.  Particular focus should be placed on the importance of education for health, targeting people who are diabetics and people at risk in order to reduce its impact in the world, Gambia in particular,” she said.

According to the Health Minister, diabetes can affect anyone especially those who are not watchful in terms of their diet.  She said diabetes is a killer disease in terms of its complications. 

Uncontrolled diabetics lead to blindness, impotence, kidney failure, stroke, heart disease, hypertension and amputation. 

Gambia’s Health Minister noted that taking proper medication can help to improve the diabetes conditions “but we can live a normal and even healthier life with diabetes if we exercise regularly and watch what we eat”.

“Acute shortage” of skilled personnel at Gambia Gov’t health facilities

The Gambia’s health sector is currently handicapped due to acute shortage of skilled health personnel like doctors and nurses as well as laboratory technicians and scientists coupled with staff attrition and redeployment, this paper can reveal.

Fatim Badjie, Gambia's Minister of Health and Social Welfare

In this vein, maternal mortality rate is considered to be still high in the country, and neonatal mortality rate, estimated at 54 per 1000 live birth, is also high. 

A document of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare says the key challenges hindering the country’s 

health sector also include inadequate budgetary allocation as the annual budget of the ministry is lower than the Abuja target, which states that 15% of the national budget should be allocated to the health sector.

Presented during the resource mobilization and investment forum for the Programme for Accelerated Growth and Employment (PAGE) held in early July, the document also indicates that there is inadequate staff accommodation in hospitals and other health facilities across the country, aggravated by lack of adequate information within the health sector due to weak health management information system. 

“Lack of funds to conduct the annual sentinel surveillance,” is also mentioned in the document as being among the key challenges of the ministry. 

The latest sentinel surveillance in The Gambia was done in 2008.  There is also lack of fund to conduct nationwide survey on HIV, and to do an assessment and refurbishment of pharmaceutical stores of the health facilities across the country. There is also lack of electricity and water supply in health facilities, the document states.