Global Financing for Malaria: Trends & Future Status

Despite significant increases over the past decade, total funding for malaria control activities is significantly below the GMAP’s estimated annual need of US$5.1 billion. Similarly, support for malaria R&D programs was also below the estimated annual need (US$750-900 million).¹ Projected funding levels, while increasing under different scenarios, also fall short of estimated need. Taken together, these findings raise significant questions and uncertainties about global malaria control and elimination efforts. As the global community meets to decide on updated malaria control targets and funding needs, it will be critical to assess where resources are likely to come from. First, unless significant additional resources are provided, this gap cannot be filled. Further, it is unclear where such resources could come from – beyond the U.S. and the Global Fund, other funding sources combined only account for about a third of total funding; they would have to more than double their share to fill the gap. Lastly, the concentration of funding from the U.S. and the Global Fund makes future funding highly dependent on, and therefore vulnerable to, their future funding trajectories. Unless significant additional resources are provided, this gap cannot be filled and it is unclear what this will mean for reaching global malaria targets and truly having a long lasting and deep impact on this disease.