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Some 84 percent of the 308 barangays in Agusan del Sur in Mindanao were classified as endemic for malaria. The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) has been assisting the Provincial Government of Agusan del Sur in partnership with the Department of Health in its fight against malaria since 1995. The community-based approach to preventing and controlling the disease has resulted in reduced incidence of malaria through the Malaria Control and Prevention Programme. Establishing the Community Trust Fund for Malaria Control AusAID commissioned a Study to determine the amount of funding required to ensure that malaria control efforts are sustained at the provincial and municipal levels. The Community Trust Fund (CTF) was conceived as a sustainability mechanism in the continuing fight against malaria. PBSP: Organizing and Investing the Community Trust Fund The Province of Agusan del Sur contracted the services of PBSP to help establish a foundation that will manage the community trust fund for malaria control. The purpose of the CTF is “to build a permanent and sustainable community source of funding to supplement the cost of critical malaria control supplies.” PBSP has since helped establish and build the capability of the foundation – the Agusan for People’s Health Development Foundation (APHDFI), which is now governed by a Board of Trustees and managed by a Secretariat. PBSP has also facilitated the investment
of the CTF amounting to P22.5 million in risk-free, high-yielding
instruments. The investment income will be able to cover the augmentation
expenses for malaria outbreaks and costs related to the management
of the CTF. |
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