Ghana health news: Funding for HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria reduced, More can be reduced by 2021

Global Fund allocation to Ghana for the eradication of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis has reduced from US$250 million in the 2015 to 2017 implementation periods to US$194 million for the next three years.

The reduction in allocation, which is partly linked to the country's performance in tackling those diseases, has been described as worrying given the fact that interventions have not reached marginalised populations across Ghana.

The Executive Secretary of the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) of Global Fund, Daniel Norgbedzie, who stated this, therefore, called on service providers and other key stakeholders to deliver quality services to reverse the trend, as reported by Graphic Online.

“Global Fund allocation to the country has reduced to US$194 million from the US$250 million we got in the last three years and this calls for concern. This is sad because the reduction comes at a time our intervention services are still not reaching the marginalised and the underprivileged in some parts of the country,” Daniel Norgbedzie said while speaking at an annual workshop organised by the CCM in Accra to review the country’s performance in the elimination of the diseases over the last three years.

He further highlighted the requirement for strong collaboration between service providers in the public and private sectors to ensure improvements in service delivery. He urged the service providers to revise their strategies to remove barriers to effective delivery of services to vulnerable populations.

On the other hand, Ghana may further have its fund allocation reduced by 2021 if it does not improve on its performance. This is what revealed by Global Fund Portfolio Manager, Mr Mark Saalfeld.