Addressing budget reduction and reallocation on health-related resources during COVID-19 pandemic in malaria-endemic countries

Abstract The global COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting the maintenance of various disease control programmes, including malaria. In some malaria-endemic countries, funding and personnel reallocations were executed from malaria control programmes to support COVID-19 response efforts, resulting main...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Malaria Journal
Main Authors: Ajib Diptyanusa, Karen Nelwin Zablon
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: BMC 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-020-03488-y
https://doaj.org/article/0934b08a0dc440c39bf0a4f75efffd5c
Description
Summary:Abstract The global COVID-19 pandemic has been affecting the maintenance of various disease control programmes, including malaria. In some malaria-endemic countries, funding and personnel reallocations were executed from malaria control programmes to support COVID-19 response efforts, resulting mainly in interruptions of disease control activities and reduced capabilities of health system. While it is principal to drive national budget rearrangements during the pandemic, the long-standing malaria control programmes should not be left behind in order to sustain the achievements from the previous years. With different levels of intensity, many countries have been struggling to improve the health system resilience and to mitigate the unavoidable stagnation of malaria control programmes. Current opinion emphasized the impacts of budget reprioritization on malaria-related resources during COVID-19 pandemic in malaria endemic countries in Africa and Southeast Asia, and feasible attempts that can be taken to lessen these impacts.