International Funding for Malaria Control in Relation to Populations at Risk of Stable Plasmodium falciparum Transmission

Background: The international financing of malaria control has increased significantly in the last ten years in parallel with calls to halve the malaria burden by the year 2015. The allocation of funds to countries should reflect the size of the populations at risk of infection, disease, and death. To examine this relationship, we compare an audit of international commitments with an objective assessment of national need: the population at risk of stable Plasmodium falciparum malaria transmission in 2007. Methods and Findings: The national distributions of populations at risk of stable P. falciparum transmission were projected to the year 2007 for each of 87 P. falciparum–endemic countries. Systematic online- and literature-based searches were conducted to audit the international funding commitments made for malaria control by major donors between 2002 and 2007. These figures were used to generate annual malaria funding allocation (in US dollars) per capita population at risk of stable P. falciparum in 2007. Almost US$1 billion are distributed each year to the 1.4 billion people exposed to stable P. falciparum malaria risk. This is less than US$1 per person at risk per year. Forty percent of this total comes from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Substantial regional and national variations in disbursements exist. While the distribution of funds is found to be broadly appropriate, specific high population density countries receive disproportionately less support to scale up malaria control. Additionally, an inadequacy of current financial commitments by the international community was found: under-funding could be from 50% to 450%, depending on which global assessment of the cost required to scale up malaria control is adopted. Conclusions: Without further increases in funding and appropriate targeting of global malaria control investment it is unlikely that international goals to halve disease burdens by 2015 will be achieved. Moreover, the additional financing requirements to move from malaria control to malaria elimination have not yet been considered by the scientific or international community. To reach global malaria control goals, Robert Snow and colleagues argue that more international funding is needed but that it must be targeted at specific countries most at risk. Background.: Malaria is one of the most common infectious diseases in the world and one of the greatest global public health problems. The Plasmodium falciparum parasite causes approximately 500 million cases each year and over one million deaths. More than 40% of the world's population is at risk of malaria. Why Was This Study Done?: As part of the activities of the Malaria Atlas Project, the researchers had previously generated a global map of the limits of P. falciparum transmission. This map detailed areas where risk is moderate or high (stable transmission areas where malaria is endemic) and areas where the risk of transmission is low (unstable transmission areas where sporadic outbreaks of malaria may occur). Because the level of funding to control malaria should be proportionate to the size of the populations at risk, the researchers in this study appraised whether the areas of greatest need were receiving financial resources in proportion to this risk. That is, whether there is equity in how malaria funding is allocated. What Did the Researchers Do and Find?: To assess the international financing of malaria control, the researchers conducted a audit of financial commitments to malaria control of the GFATM, national governments, and other donors for the period 2002 to 2007. To assess need, they estimated the population at risk of stable P. falciparum malaria transmission in 2007, building on their previous malaria map. Financial commitments were identified via online and literature searches, including the GFATM Web site, the World Malaria Report produced by WHO and UNICEF, and various other sources of financial information. Together these data allowed the authors to generate an estimate of the annual malaria funding allocation per capita population at risk of P. falciparum. What Do These Findings Mean?: The researchers find that the distribution of funds across the regions affected by malaria to be generally appropriate, with the Africa region and low-population-at-risk areas such as the Americas, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe receiving proportionate annual malaria support. But they also identify large shortfalls, such as in the South East Asia and Western Pacific regions, which represents 47% of the global population at risk but received only 17% of GFATM and 24% of non-GFATM support. National government spending also falls short: for example, in Nigeria, where more than 100 million people are at risk of stable P. falciparum transmission, less than US$1 is invested per person per year. These findings illustrate how important it is to examine financial commitments against actual needs. Given the gaps between funding support and level of stable P. falciparum risk, the authors conclude that the goal to reduce the global burden of malaria by 2015 very likely will not be met with current commitments. They estimate that there remains a 50%–450% shortfall in funding needed to scale up malaria control worldwide. Additional Information.: Please access these Web sites via the online version of this summary at http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0050142.