Donors stop funding malaria projects in Uganda, turn to climate change

The minister of Health, Ruth Aceng has revealed that the international donors have told government they will no longer be funding malaria projects in Uganda.

Appearing before Parliament’s Health Committee, Aceng said donors have told government to raise funding from internal or other sources.

“Our partners are no longer willing to increase any more funding for malaria, they have all levelled off. We were invited to Cameroon recently, I was there in person and we were told the world has moved on to climate change issues, global health security and to wars in Ukraine and Israel. So we were told to sign a declaration that each of the 10 high burden countries will look for their own domestic resources and bring their malaria pandemics or epidemics to an end by themselves. So, we aren’t looking for any additional increase of resources for malaria, it has to be domestic resources,” said Aceng.

Ruth Aceng

Donors contibute at least $100 million per annum to Uganda’s fight against malaria according to statistics from the ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

She decried Uganda’s over reliance on foreign donors in funding Uganda’s health sector budget. She said donors are slated to fund 85% of the ministry’s budget next financial year.
“In the 2024/25 national budget, the Ministry of Health has been allocated Shs1.328Trn. We take note that external financing takes the greater percentage. The budget under the Ministry of Health is highly subsidized by external donors at 85% and these funds are earmarked for health commodities like Global Fund and GAVI that benefit the entire health system there is need to moblise domestic resources in a phased manner in the mid-term,” she said.

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