Switzerland Awards Tanzania $2.1M Grant To Bolster ITN Use
Switzerland has awarded Tanzania a grant worth 2.7 billion Tanzanian shillings, or about $2.1 million, to scale up the distribution and use of insecticide-treated nets in the country, Ramadhani Kijjah, permanent secretary in the Tanzanian Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, said Wednesday, the Tanzanian Daily News reports.
Kijjah said the grant will help reduce malaria deaths, particularly among children and pregnant women, and will help the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare coordinate activities of the National Malaria Control Program. The grant also will integrate efforts to scale up ITN distribution at regional and district levels, Swiss Ambassador to Tanzania Adrian Schlaepher said.
The grant will "enhance the effective and efficient functioning of the coordination cell and harmonize all donors active in the field of malaria," Schlaepher said, adding that he is "convinced that the support will sustain the crucial contribution to the control of malaria and ultimately towards the reduction of poverty in Tanzania." Kijjah added that the grant "shows Switzerland's commitment to support Tanzanian government in its aim of improving the health and well-being of all Tanzanians, especially those in rural areas, the poor and vulnerable" (Robi, Tanzanian Daily News, 12/17).
