Global Fund suspends malaria, HIV disbursement in Nigeria
Global Fund suspends malaria, HIV disbursement in Nigeria
National Mirror, 03 May 2016
URL: http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/global-fund-suspends-malaria-hiv-disbursement-in-nigeria/
An agency, Global Fund to fight HIV/ AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, GFATM, has just suspended the HIV and malaria disbursement in Nigeria over failure to meet target, especially in areas such as antiretroviral therapy, TB diagnosis and mismanagement of fund.
The suspension occurred after the Office of the Global Fund Inspector General, OIG, completed an audit in Abuja on HIV, TB, and malaria grants to Nigeria. The OIG had identified additional weaknesses and concerns regarding the fund management, and is also investigating allegations of fraud and misappropriation of grant funds by a government subrecipient. Member of the Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) Nigeria, Ibrahim Umoru, confirmed this to National Mirror yesterday. He said the principal recipients affected are National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, and National Malaria Elimination Programme, NMEP. He listed among reasons for the suspension of fund the mismanagement of fund and grants not achieving targets. Expressing worry over the situation, he said reduction of donor funding will affect Nigeria because presently in terms of HIV/ AIDS, Nigeria contributes 10 per cent to the global burden, and the national response to HIV is donor-driven. However, issues of mismanagement of Nigerian grants are not new. Historically, grants to Nigeria have faced substantial systematic and operational risks and challenges. Key risks identified by the GF Secretariat included grants not achieving targets, for key indicators such as antiretroviral therapy and TB diagnosis; fiduciary risks, government Principal Recipient’s struggling to oversee countrywide disease responses; insufficient capacity to ensure that basic health services are in line with guidance and national standards; inadequate monitoring and evaluation, poor data quality, and poor quality of electronic health information systems; and systematic weaknesses and risks in procurement and supply chain management systems. As recently as last December, the Global Fund approved $510 million in funding for five TB/HIV grants, including $310 million in new funding. However, Nigeria despite being the largest recipient of the Global Fund in Africa, is not meeting expectations of the Fund. The Country Director, Nigeria, Country Coordinating Mechanism, CCM, Dr. Dauda Sulaiman Dauda, expressed concern over this situation at the last CCM’s 48th General Meeting and Retreat in Lagos. He said funds were mismanaged either by applying processes that are not too transparent in their procurements or carry out activities that are not approved for that particular funding. The Global Fund was established by United Nations in 2002 to fight HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. It is the world’s largest financier of anti-AIDS, TB and malaria programmes and by mid-2012 had approved funding of $22.9 billion that supports more than 1,000 programmes in 151 countries.
The suspension occurred after the Office of the Global Fund Inspector General, OIG, completed an audit in Abuja on HIV, TB, and malaria grants to Nigeria. The OIG had identified additional weaknesses and concerns regarding the fund management, and is also investigating allegations of fraud and misappropriation of grant funds by a government subrecipient. Member of the Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) Nigeria, Ibrahim Umoru, confirmed this to National Mirror yesterday. He said the principal recipients affected are National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, and National Malaria Elimination Programme, NMEP. He listed among reasons for the suspension of fund the mismanagement of fund and grants not achieving targets. Expressing worry over the situation, he said reduction of donor funding will affect Nigeria because presently in terms of HIV/ AIDS, Nigeria contributes 10 per cent to the global burden, and the national response to HIV is donor-driven. However, issues of mismanagement of Nigerian grants are not new. Historically, grants to Nigeria have faced substantial systematic and operational risks and challenges. Key risks identified by the GF Secretariat included grants not achieving targets, for key indicators such as antiretroviral therapy and TB diagnosis; fiduciary risks, government Principal Recipient’s struggling to oversee countrywide disease responses; insufficient capacity to ensure that basic health services are in line with guidance and national standards; inadequate monitoring and evaluation, poor data quality, and poor quality of electronic health information systems; and systematic weaknesses and risks in procurement and supply chain management systems. As recently as last December, the Global Fund approved $510 million in funding for five TB/HIV grants, including $310 million in new funding. However, Nigeria despite being the largest recipient of the Global Fund in Africa, is not meeting expectations of the Fund. The Country Director, Nigeria, Country Coordinating Mechanism, CCM, Dr. Dauda Sulaiman Dauda, expressed concern over this situation at the last CCM’s 48th General Meeting and Retreat in Lagos. He said funds were mismanaged either by applying processes that are not too transparent in their procurements or carry out activities that are not approved for that particular funding. The Global Fund was established by United Nations in 2002 to fight HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. It is the world’s largest financier of anti-AIDS, TB and malaria programmes and by mid-2012 had approved funding of $22.9 billion that supports more than 1,000 programmes in 151 countries.