Ghana to receive US$300m from Global Fund to fight 3 diseases

The ceremony, which took place at the Flagstaff House, was witnessed by President John Dramani Mahama.

Ghana has chalked up remarkable successes in the prevention and treatment of the three diseases and the grant is expected to add to the progress as the country advances towards achieving zero deaths in malaria and TB.

The Executive Director of the Global Fund, Dr Mark Dybul, who flew in from Geneva, Switzerland, specifically for the ceremony, signed for the fund and described it as an "extraordinary accomplishment for Ghana".

Speaking at the ceremony, President Mahama said: "This funding is very timely and we are going to use it to scale up our work, not only in malaria but also TB and also consolidate the gains we are making in the fight against HIV and AIDS."

He said the investment made in the health sector, supported by partners such as the Global Fund, had resulted in significant strides in the sector.

"We believe that the health of our people is critical to our economic development," he said.

On HIV, he said there were over 90,000 people currently on retrovirals, while new infections had been cut by half.

Prevalence rate among adults had also been cut from 1.5 per cent to 1.3 per cent, while prevention of mother-to-child transmission had been improved from 52 to 62 per cent, he said.

He said about 76,500 TB cases had been detected and treated.

The President said under-five malaria fatality rate reduced from 40.4 per cent in 2000 to 0.8 per cent in 2012, adding that over 19 million insecticide treated nets had been distributed.

He said it was in the interest of the county to work with its partners to reduce malaria affliction.

“Successfully attacking malaria will reduce the pressure on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) because the disease consumed majority of the funds of the scheme,” he said.

President Mahama acknowledged the success achieved by the AngloGold malaria project, funded by the Global Fund, in the areas in which the company was operating.

He mentioned the burning of the Central Medical Stores in Tema and expressed the hope that the Global Fund would come in to restore normalcy in the supply chain for pharmaceuticals.

He said as a lower middle-income country, Ghana would be ready to take up such funds until it fully became a middle- income country.

Dr Dybul said Ghana was a country on track to eliminate malaria and promised continuous support from the fund towards achieving that feat.

He noted the tremendous efforts by the President to achieve the successes so far.

The Country Representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Magda Robalo, praised Ghana for the achievements made and said it was "the result of a bold and visionary leadership".

By Kwame Asare Boadu

Graphic online