AMF has agreed to fund 25 million nets for distribution in the Democratic Republic of Congo during 2024 to 2026. These nets will contribute to, but in no way close, the funding gap for this period.
The nets should achieve full coverage of sleeping spaces across 170 health zones in 12 provinces to protect 45 million people when they sleep at night from the bites of malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
DRC is affected year-round by malaria and these nets have the potential to play a major part in reducing deaths and illness.
These nets could be expected to prevent 25,000 to 30,000 deaths, avert 15 to 30 million cases of malaria and make a material impact on the economy of DRC. It is estimated that the improvement in GDP (Gross Domestic Product), a measure of economic performance, as a result of AMF’s commitment would be about USD660 million.
We are about to allocate individual donations to these specific distributions and many donations, large and small, will fund these nets.
The distributions will be implemented by the PNLP (Programme National de Lutte contre le Paludisme – National Malaria Control Programme) and other partners, with whom AMF will work closely and with whom we have an agreed set of processes and a strong and open working relationship. We will report transparently on progress and performance throughout and after the distribution.
Lead times for this significant logistical programme, across a country two-thirds the size of Western Europe, means that nets for the 2024 distributions are being ordered now and for the 2025 distributions in the coming months.
Key elements of our agreement include:
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AMF is funding ~25,000,000 LLINs, with distribution during 2024 and 2025 (as AMF's contribution to the 2024 to 2026 campaign)
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This is a co-funding partnership with non-net costs (shipping, pre-distribution, distribution) funded by the Global Fund
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To support accurate data gathering, verification of net need numbers will take place by re-visiting a material number of households chosen at random
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Household-level data will be collected using electronic-devices and then transferred into AMF's Data Entry System (DES) for analysis and verification. This, and the above elements combined, are the basis for a highly accountable distribution.
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Post-distribution monitoring of net use and condition (PDMs) will take place every nine months for two and a half years in all districts. AMF will fund this.
Further information is available via AMF’s distributions listing
There remains a huge gap in critical funding for the 2024 to 2026 period for DRC. Together with our partners, the Global Fund and the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), we are able to fund 62% of the nets needed for DRC for this period. There is still a US$145 million shortfall that leaves 38% of the country, all highly malarious, currently without a protection plan. If this situation does not change, tens of thousands of people can be expected to die from malaria. The three partners are not aware of any significant further funding sources for this period which is why this gap is described as critical.