USAID reforms agency malaria programs for greater effectiveness
The U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) is the lead U.S. government agency for implementation of the President's
Malaria Initiative (PMI), a $1.2 billion, five-year commitment created
to dramatically reduce the burden of malaria in Africa. This initiative
will be focused, results-based, and will exhibit a high level of financial
and programmatic accountability.
While the President's Malaria Initiative
increases over the next five years, USAID's other malaria programs have
now been restructured to function in the same, results-based and accountable
fashion as the PMI. The changes will effectively combine all USAID malaria
activities into a single, strategic effort. The most significant changes
include:
- Lifesaving Drugs and Supplies. Beginning
in fiscal year 2006, at least $24 million (or 40 percent) of USAID's non-PMI
malaria funds (and excluding those directed by Congress for malaria research)
will be designated for the sole, express purpose of providing life-saving
drugs and supplies -- insecticides and equipment for spraying, insecticide-treated
bed nets, artemisinin-combination therapies and diagnostics, drugs for
intermittent preventive treatment of pregnant women, and drugs for severe
malaria. This category's funding level is approximately five times that
of fiscal year 2004.
- Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS). In
fiscal year 2006, $15 million (or 25 percent) of non-PMI malaria funds
will be designated to exclusively support indoor residual spraying in malaria-affected
countries. This category's funding level is approximately 15 times that
of fiscal year 2004. (Note: the supplies necessary for IRS, such as insecticides
and spray equipment, are also accounted for in the previous paragraph.)
- Country Program Funding. In order
to ensure that individual country programs are funded at levels sufficient
to achieve measurable results and save lives, beginning in fiscal year
2006, no developing country malaria program or regionally-managed country
program will be funded at less than $1.5 million. In fiscal year 2007,
the minimum funding for country programs will rise to at least $2.5 million.
- Malaria Program Transparency. All reporting of non-PMI programs will be subject to the new malaria data management system established in November 2005, and will be posted on a publicly-accessible USAID website. This data will include all program budgets, inputs, outputs, and outcomes.
Public Information: 202-712-4810