Uganda

Malaria prevention and control are major foreign assistance objectives of the U.S. Government (USG). In May 2009, President Barack Obama announced the Global Health Initiative (GHI), a comprehensive effort to reduce the burden of diseases and promote healthy communities and families around the world. Through the GHI, the United States will help partner countries improve health outcomes, with a particular focus on improving the health of women, newborns, and children. The President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) is a core component of the GHI, along with HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, maternal and child health, and nutrition. PMI was launched in June 2005 as a 5-year, $1.2 billion initiative to rapidly scale-up malaria prevention and treatment interventions and reduce malaria-related mortality by 50% in 15 high-burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa. With the passage of the Lantos-Hyde Act, PMI's goal was adjusted to halve the burden of malaria in 70% of the at-risk populations of sub-Saharan Africa, thereby removing malaria as a major public health problem. Uganda is one of the first three PMI countries, and PMI activities were initiated in 2006. Malaria is Uganda's leading cause of morbidity and mortality. According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), malaria accounts for 25-40% of outpatient visits to health facilities and is responsible for nearly half of inpatient pediatric deaths. Results of the 2011 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) show an improvement over the 2009 Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS) with 60% of households nationwide owning at least one insecticide-treated net (ITN) up from 47% in 2009; 47% of pregnant women and 43% of children under the age of five having slept under an ITN the night before the survey up from 44% and 33%, respectively, in 2009. In addition, the 2009 DHS showed that 43% of children under the age of five had been treated with an antimalarial drug on the same day or the next day after the onset of fever, while the proportion receiving an artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) was 30%. However, the DHS report showed a decrease in the number of women receiving intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy (IPTp2) from 32% to 25% during the same period. Overall, there was a 34% decrease in under-five mortality from 2006 to 2011 in Uganda.1 PMI, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund), and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID) are the three major contributors to malaria control in Uganda, with additional support from a range of other donors. Uganda currently has three active grants from the Global Fund that run until December 2014. Through the New Funding Model (NFM), the National Malaria Control Program (NMCP) has submitted a concept note for a new malaria grant that would cover the period of 2015 through 2017.