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Dept for International Development

Answer

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the result has been of the support provided by his Department to the Africa Regional Office of the World Health Organisation for malaria and childhood illness activities. [148554] Hilary Benn: DFID has agreed an £18 million, six- year project of support to WHO Africa Regional Office in 2002 and it is now at the early stages of implementation. We reviewed progress in 2003 and felt that that the project was well on track. All the countries supported under the project having developed Roll Back Malaria (RBM) and Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) plans. Countries supported under the project have been able to use their malaria control plans to make applications to the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM). The plans have helped GFATM approve and release significant malaria grants for six countries in the region. WHO has established an inter-country team for the region, which has responded to a number of emergencies such as flood assessments in Malawi and Mozambique. At the same time it has helped to develop country capacity through training and strengthening health systems. The IMCI strategy is being implemented in most countries of the region and seven are now implementing it in more than 50 per cent. of their districts. There have been major achievements in improving health worker skills, demonstrated through Health Facility Surveys and Multi-Country Evaluations. Attention will now be focused upon strengthening some of the health systems issues in the delivery of IMCI. Finally, the WHO's Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) itself has used the project to increase its institutional capacity and has recruited additional staff to work on both RBM and IMCI.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

417 c22W; 148554

Session

2003-04

Subjects

Children Developing countries Development aid Africa Diseases Disease control Infant mortality Malaria World Health Organization Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk