PPP helps meet target to halt malaria spread

MANILA, Philippines - An overlooked area of potential for harnessing public-private partnerships (PPP) in the Philippines is healthcare. Proof of success and sustainability of PPPs in this sector is the current National Malaria Control Program (NMCP), a concerted effort of the Department of Health and local government units (LGUs), together with private enterprises, non-profit organizations and benefactors.

The NMCP has successfully reduced sickness and deaths due to malaria by 83 percent and 93 percent, respectively, as of end-2013 compared to 2005 figures.

These reductions were achieved ahead of the 2015 deadline set by the sixth UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG), which is to halt and reverse the spread of malaria by 50 percent.

From 46,342 confirmed cases recorded in 2005, malaria cases were down to only 7,720 in 2013. Over the past four years, five more provinces have been declared malaria-free: Camarines Sur, Batanes, Dinagat Islands, Romblon, and Batangas, bringing the total to 27. 

There are 10 other provinces that have not registered any malaria case for three or more consecutive years, and are now primary candidates for attaining a malaria-free status.

While malaria continues to be a health burden in 53 provinces across the country, putting an estimated six million Filipinos at most risk for contracting the infection, especially children, indigenous peoples, and residents of far-flung areas, the strides that the NMCP has achieved are nothing less than remarkable and impactful. The program’s underlying PPP framework is considered pivotal to its enduring success.

The Movement Against Malaria (MAM) is the country’s current campaign toward malaria elimination. It showcases the viability of PPP in healthcare, and is supported by the grant for malaria of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria.

Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc. (PSFI) – the social development arm of the Shell companies in the Philippines (SciP) – is the principal recipient of the Global Fund grant, which manages MAM in partnership with the DOH, LGUs, community health workers, and volunteers. 

The DOH provides technical expertise and overall direction to MAM, while LGUs have been tapped to provide additional resources for the program, including human resources, coordination, transportation, allowances for health workers, and other logistics.

Shell’s involvement in malaria control could be traced back in Palawan as far back as 1999. While the construction of the Malampaya gas-to-power project was underway, Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX) and its joint venture partners, the Philippine National Oil Co.–Exploration Corp. and Chevron Malampaya Llc., simultaneously launched a grassroots campaign called Kilusan Ligtas Malaria (KLM).

KLM was the product of a broad stakeholder consultation led by the SPEX joint venture partners, PSFI, and the provincial government of Palawan. Local leaders and residents had identified malaria as a major burden in their community, causing almost 80,000 Palaweños to become sick, and hundreds to perish.

The success and effectiveness of KLM did not escape the attention of the Global Fund, which provided PSFI its first grant for a malaria control program covering five provinces (Palawan, Apayao, Quirino, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi) from 2006 to 2009.

In 2010, PSFI received recognition for its outstanding management of the program, which also led to another grant by the Global Fund, expanding its coverage to 40 of the 53 malaria-endemic provinces in the country.

“Just as Shell has found its own unique role in the Philippines’ Malaria Control Program, I am certain other enterprises, big or small, have roles to play in malaria as well, not only in the Philippines but across the Asia-Pacific,” said SciP country chairman Edgar Chua to private sector players in support of malaria elimination during the Sixth Regional Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Malaria Elimination Network held recently in Makati City.

Shell has committed to MAM its expertise in community engagement, partnership building, financial management, and procurement and distribution of supplies and logistics, which include long-lasting insecticidal nets and malarial drugs. Religious use of the mosquito nets lined with insecticide remains to be the best way to prevent malaria.