Together, the newly signed malaria grants amount to the largest single malaria initiative ever signed by the Global Fund, the Fund said in a statement made available to PANA here.
It said that as part of its efforts to eliminate malaria, Nigeria aims to place two bed nets in every household in the country by distributing 62 million bed nets by December 2010. Global Fund grants will provide half of this total, while other contributors include the World Bank, USAID, UNICEF, and the Nigerian government.
'I am extremely pleased that our partnership with Nigeria continues to grow: it shows Nigeria's strong commitment to fight malaria, and strengthens our relationship since Nigeria is also a Global Fund donor,' the statement quoted Professor Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund, as saying.
'Nigeria is showing why reaching global targets for malaria is no longer fanciful but something that can actually be achieved,' he said.
Programmes supported by the malaria grants will also provide 56 million quality malaria treatments via administration of artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) for the next two years and support the introduction of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic tests.
Implementation will be led by the Federal Ministry of Health of Nigeria in conjunction with two Non-Governmental Organizations, The Yakubu Gowon Centre for National Unity and International Cooperation and Society for Family Health.
Malaria remains one of the leading causes of disease in Nigeria, and it has the highest malaria burden of any country in Africa. Nigeria also has an estimated 57 million cases of malaria a year, while the disease is responsible for 30% of child-related mortality and 11% of maternal mortality.
To date, the Global Fund - a global public/private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria - has approved grants worth US$16.1 billion to 140 countries since its creation in 2002.
Geneva - 23/10/2009
Pana
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