Global Funds programme on three diseases opens

Accra, Jan. 13, GNA - Ghana is still grappling with the huge burden of communicable diseases because of the impact of malaria on the health delivery service, Health Minister, Dr Kwaku Afriyie, said on Tuesday. Speaking at the opening of a three-day review meeting on the Global Fund To Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Accra, he said the rise in the number of HIV infected individuals and the resurgence of tuberculosis had compounded the problems in the health sector, which called for more effort in "protecting the human capital."

Dr Afriyie called for sustained international efforts and private-sector participation in dealing with the three diseases, which were among top conditions threatening developmental gains in Africa. The meeting would review progress on the implementation of the Global Fund Programmes in Ghana and assess advances made. The fund was established by the United Nations in January in 2002, following a meeting of the Group of Eight Industrialised Countries (G8) in Okinawa in July 2000, where the initial concept of a fund was raised to provide funds to complement the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in less endowed countries.

The fund has since its establishment bagged 4.7 billion dollars to finance programmes up to 2008 and the first round of grants have been approved for 36 countries including Ghana.

Together with the second round of grants, it has committed 1.5 billion dollars in funding to support 154 programmes in 93 countries.

Dr. Kofi Ahmed, Chief Medical Officer of the Ministry of Health, said the review meeting would assess the implementation, outcomes and performance of various programmes geared towards controlling the incidence of the three diseases to ensure the efficient use of the fund.

Mr.Robert Kuwornu, Director of Policy at the Ministry of Local Government, said as partners in the fight against HIV/AIDS, they were expanding the District Response Initiative on HIV/AIDS to ensure that the disease was tackled at the grassroots level.

"The disease has the potential of impacting on service delivery .. The Ministry is empowering communities to initiate their own responses to tackle the disease using local government structures," he explained. Dr Melville George, World Health Organisation Representative in Ghana, said there was the need for strengthening the channels of communications among stakeholders to successfully implement programmes aimed at dealing with the three diseases.

Mr Alfred Sallia Fawundu, the UNDP Resident Representative, called for strict measures to deal with duplication of programmes to ensure efficient use of funds. 13 Jan 04