Kpassa (O/R), Dec. 31, GNA – Funding for malaria activities in the Nkwanta North District of the Oti Region has been affected by investments in physical health infrastructure.
A validation meeting at Kpassa, organized by Send Ghana, a Non-Governmental organization over a 2019 report on malaria funding, revealed that there was no direct spending on malaria activities in the District.
Mr Nicholas Tetteh, Malaria Focal Person for the District, reported that he had since 2013 been submitting action plans on fighting the disease to the Assembly but had received no support.
“We have lots of activities to fund including public education using the radio and public address (PA) systems. All were captured in the medium term plan, but nothing!.
“Planning boldly told me they would use the money for other things. The terrain requires resources to survive but the only support comes from NGOs,” he lamented.
Mr. Alhassan Issah, the District Planning Officer, said dedicated investments in health infrastructure help increase primary health coverage to 84 per cent, and added that it was expected to hit 94 with the completion of four CHPS compounds.
“Our major priority is on resourcing the compounds. We have about 12 CHPS compounds and primary health facilities. Our area still has no hospital and still has CHPS compounds not equipped,” he said.
He also mentioned the ongoing completion of a bungalow to attract a physician to the District, and said the Assembly was completing a theatre for the health facility.
Mr Issah said a threshold of public education and sensitization, had therefore been agreed upon for malaria programs supported with the allotted 0.5 per cent of the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF).
“We are all aware of the 0.5 DACF but we have a medium term work plan. The 0.5 is used to support the budget. It is the guidelines that we use, not the law,” he said.
The Planning Officer noted that expenditure guidelines remained a major challenge, adding that the distribution parameters of the common fund were “very exhaustive”.
He said expenditure consumption affected malaria support, and called for straight guidelines for the allocation.
“HIV and Disability funds have specific activities and cut across all districts. If there is a specific activity for malaria, we can implement.
“Policy and DACF guidelines are not resonant, and health is not fully decentralized. Implementation is relative in circumstance. We may be doing it but not in the name of malaria,” the Planning Officer noted.
Mr. Sevlo Agyei, District Director, said the Assembly’s needs were numerous and could not meet all, and that some, including security, held priority over malaria.
He added that in the face of resource allocation disparities, the Assembly was “free to prioritize”.
“We have become managers. The law can be there, the percentage can be assigned but if the monies are not given it will be difficult,” Mr Agyei stated.
The Director added that the common fund was not enough to cushion pressing needs, and that malaria stakeholders must “learn to lobby and push”.
Mr Livingston Dravie, CHPS Coordinator for the District, said malaria rode on the back of the lack of interventions, and was wreaking havoc in the district among children in particular.
He said a recent study revealed that about 50 out of the 90 under-five children in an unnamed community within the District, tested positive for malaria.
Mr Dravie said malaria also accounted for over 70 per cent of the under-five mortality rate in the community, and called for more focus on fighting the disease.
“Although we have other priorities, there are things happening in malaria and we need extensive sensitization, testing and treatment to move the district forward”.
He alleged a lack of cooperation in the siting of health facilities, and expressed readiness to work with the planning department on operationalizing health facilities and providing better working conditions for health workers.
People for Health (P4H), a five-year program funded by the USAID, commissioned the 2019 assessment that evaluated access to the malaria allocation.
Send Ghana leads a consortium of three organizations working on the project- Penplusbytes and the Ghana News Agency.
The project aimed at improving access to quality health service delivery in 20 districts from five regions including the Greater Accra, Eastern, Northern, Volta and the Oti.
Mr Ebenezer Carboo-Hartog, Field Officer for Send Ghana, said players must “realize that the fight against malaria was not curative, and must look beyond the circumstances”.
Mr Richard Anane Adortse, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for the project, also called for the necessary attention to be given to malaria interventions saying, “It is sad that since 2013 the 0.5 has never been prioritized.
He said the report confirmed some gains made in the fight against malaria, but also exposed diminishing investment in the efforts, which showed that malaria was not the priority for most local Assemblies.
Mr. Adotse said key recommendations included deducting the malaria allocation at source, and also the operation of a separate account for the fund.
He assured that a policy document was being highlighted at the national level, and urged stakeholders to work in coordination.
GNA