The impact of malaria extends far beyond the realm of public health and exacts a heavy toll on human and economic prosperity, making the disease central to the World Bank’s development agenda.
The Problem
Malaria kills an estimated one million people every year – most of them children under age five and pregnant women. It kills nearly 3,000 children every day.
In total, malaria is estimated to cost Africa about US$12 billion annually in lost gross domestic product (GDP), slowing GDP growth by as much as 1.3 percent per year.
90 percent of malaria deaths worldwide occur in Africa.
Malaria is preventable and treatable– universal coverage with existing interventions could drastically reduce the number of malaria deaths.
A Critical Part of the Solution: The Booster Program for Malaria Control in Africa
The World Bank had committed $452.5 million in International Development Association (IDA) funding and $17.7 million in trust funds by June 2008 – the end of Phase I. This reflects a nine-fold increase in our malaria control support in Africa (with just $50 million committed FY 2000 – 2005).
The Booster Program enables countries to scale up prevention and treatment strategies to national level, while, at the same time, strengthening health systems.
The World Bank is working with client countries and partner organizations to achieve a 75 percent reduction in malaria deaths between 2000 and 2015, eliminating malaria as a major public health problem in several countries and paving the way for malaria elimination continent-wide.
Booster Phase II will be officially launched with countries and other key partners in December 2008, with a target of $1.125 billion in IDA support. Phase II will be more strategic, stress the Bank’s comparative advantages, and build on the successes and lessons learned in Phase I.
Accomplishments of the Booster Program on the Ground
A total of 19 Booster Program projects in 18 countries are Board-approved, and there are two multi-donor trust fund projects in Sudan. A $15 million project in another country is pending approval. Board-approved projects include the multi-country Senegal River Basin Booster project. A second, major sub-regional project is being planned for Phase II of the Booster Program. A US$180 million “malaria control package plus” for Nigeria is the largest malaria effort in the country.
Of the 258 million people living in the areas covered by Phase I, some 45 million are children under the age of five years old and 11 million are pregnant women, the two groups most vulnerable to malaria illness and death.
Massive bednet distribution campaigns have taken place in Benin, DR Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan, and Zambia. Nets are also being distributed as part of routine health services in Nigeria, Senegal and other countries. Over 77,000 houses received indoor residual spraying in Eritrea.
In Zambia, 44 percent of households now have at least one insecticide-treated net (up from less than 5 percent in 2004) and 62 percent of pregnant women receive preventive treatment, tripling coverage since 2004.
In Ethiopia, over 90 percent of households now own at least one bednet (up from less than 5 percent in 2003), and recent data suggest a sharp decline in malaria cases.
More than US$139 million has been spent for the purchase and distribution of key malaria control commodities and to support health system strengthening for the effective provision of these and other essential services. By the end of 2008, this figure will increase to US$304 million.
In total, more than 21 million long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and over 42 million doses ofartemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) will be distributed under projects in the Booster Program’s first phase ending in 2008.
In addition to commodities and their distribution, World Bank funding supports training of health, M&E, finance, procurement, and management personnel; strengthening and harmonization of M&E and procurement systems; establishing sentinel sites; and improving strategic planning.
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