Sierra Leone and Global Fund launch latest grants to strengthen health systems and speed up response to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria – updates

Sierra Leone and Global Fund launch latest grants to strengthen health systems and speed up response to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria

June 17, 2024

– The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund), the federal government of Sierra Leone and other health partners have launched two latest grants value a complete of USD 136 million. The grants will speed up the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria, while strengthening health systems and communities across the country through the 2024-2027 grant period. In the long run, they are going to contribute to the country’s goal of achieving universal health coverage and achieving the 2030 targets under Sustainable Development Goal 3 on health and well-being for all.

The official grant presentation took place on Friday, June 14, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, during a ceremony presided over by Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone. “The grants we are signing today with the Global Fund will support us in continuing the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria and in strengthening health systems in Sierra Leone, in line with our National Strategic Plan, the Universal Health Coverage Action Plan and our National Health Plan Sector Strategic Plan,” said President Bio. “Together with the Global Fund partnership, we will be able to ensure a healthier future for all Sierra Leoneans.”

Also present were Dr. Austin Demby, Minister of Health; representatives of the Global Fund donor countries; representatives of civil society; members of the National Coordination Mechanism; representatives of UN agencies and health partners; and representatives from the Global Fund, including Mark Edington, director of grant management on the Global Fund. “We have been working with Sierra Leone since 2005 and investments in the country have exceeded $500 million,” Edington said. “We commend the important progress in achieving targets on HIV, tuberculosis and malaria and will continue to support the country in strengthening its overall health system and development program through new grants.”

Both grants – which might be implemented by the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and civil society partner World Vision International, with the support and involvement of communities most affected by these three diseases – are multi-component in nature. This implies that they promote an integrated approach to HIV, TB and malaria services by strengthening the country’s formal and community health systems, with the ambition to supply equitable, effective and high-quality health services to all the population.

For HIV, grant priorities include increasing the diversified provision of antiretroviral therapy and health care to extend the proportion of individuals on treatment from 80% to 98%; increasing the coverage of viral load tests to 90%; increasing the coverage of HIV testing amongst pregnant women; increasing the variety of pediatric interventions and increasing the proportion of girls on HIV treatment from 69% to 98%. It also includes interventions to cut back latest HIV infections amongst adults over 25 years of age and HIV transmission in key and affected populations.

For TB, the grants aim to support the inclusion of 90% of individuals with confirmed TB in treatment and to expand access to TB diagnostic services through mobile vans, community medical experts and improved connections to laboratory diagnostic services.

For malaria, grants will proceed to support campaigns for universal mass long-term insecticidal nets (LLINs), in addition to malaria case management, including testing and treatment in health facilities and on the community level. Support under this grant also goals to extend the proportion of malaria cases confirmed and treated by local medical experts from 90% in 2023 to 100% by 2027. In addition, activities are planned to scale up LLIN distribution in schools for chosen grades in elementary schools from one high-burden district to 5 additional districts. There are also plans to spray the residue indoors in 21 prisons and national psychiatric hospitals across the country.

These latest grants also include funding for strengthening health systems, which is able to complement the $34 million Covid-19 Response Mechanism grant that supported the country’s COVID-19 response and pandemic preparedness. Investments include strengthening disease surveillance, laboratories and diagnostics, medical oxygen, strengthening human resources and social systems, and managing health products and waste.

Over the past decade, Sierra Leone has made significant progress within the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. In the case of HIV, the country has made progress towards 95-95-95 goals. Of the overall 77,000 HIV-positive people within the country, 78% are aware of their status, 97% of those that know their status are on treatment, and 45% of those on treatment are virally suppressed. For tuberculosis, the variety of detected cases of tuberculosis increased from 20,000 in 2010 to 25,000 in 2022. For malaria, the incidence decreased from 45% in 2010 to 21% in 2022. The reduction in mortality can also be significant and continues to diminish .