Improved diagnostic testing and more than a dozen new staff are among the National Malaria Center’s plans for its first disbursement from the UN Global Fund’s second round, which arrived late last month, officials said Wednesday.
The disbursement comes as a relief to the center after a tight year for malaria funding in 2003, when the Global Fund withheld Round One money for more than half the year, citing dissatisfaction with Cambodia’s financial and monitoring systems, malaria program adviser Dr Seshu Babu said.
Today, center officials and NGO partners are meeting to discuss their proposal for the Global Fund’s Fourth Round, which is due Feb 23, Babu said. They will be reviewing the proposal from the Third Round, from which Cambodia was rejected, to see where it can be improved, he said.
The first $900,000 of the
$2.7 million Cambodia is slated to receive over the next two years arrived in late January, said Duong Socheat, director of the National Malaria Center.
It will be used in part to expand an ongoing project between the center and PSI to train health care providers on the use of an on-the-spot malaria diagnostic test and distribute pre-packaged drug kits for sale at a low price.
“People often present themselves to a health care provider for a fever and for lack of better diagnostic [tools] they’re often treated for malaria,” said Barry Whittle, country representative for PSI.
The drug kits, he said, ensure that patients receive the correct type and dosage of drugs that meet the government’s guidelines for malaria treatment.
Last year, the government-subsidized kits sold for nearly $2, Whittle said. PSI is currently reviewing the consumer price, and is “looking hopefully to have some price reduction” before the next malaria season, he said.
The center has already hired 14 new staff members, including six doctors, a librarian and a technical expert, Babu said. The new staffers begin training next week.
Part of the money will be used to develop education programs and to fund the second leg of a study on the effects of malaria on pregnant women, said Dr Boukheng Thavrin, head of the Health Education Department.
Partners for Development will provide technical assistance to the center in Kratie and Koh Kong provinces, Babu said. Health Unlimited will work in Ratanakkiri and Preah Vihear provinces.
The Global Fund, which releases money to the Ministry of Health every six months, has pledged $10 million for malaria funding over the next five years, Babu said. It will review the country’s progress at the end of the second year and release the rest of the money if it is satisfied, he said.
