Malawi faces wide-ranging challenges in Global Fund grant implementation

Author:

Ann Ithibu

Article Type:

Article Number: 7

Some relate to Global Fund processes, others to political and economic context

ABSTRACT Malawi has made significant progress in the fight against HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria since it started receiving Global Fund funding in 2003. Malawi faces significant challenges in implementing Global Fund grants, such as low domestic contributions to the health sector, low absorption of Global Fund grants, and a weak health system, which undermine achieving maximum impact against the three diseases. Some challenges relate to Global Fund processes while most relate to Malawi’s economic and political context. Solutions include increased country investments in health systems, addressing bottlenecks to effective absorption of funding, and increased oversight of grant implementation.