AMF has agreed to fund 3.1 million nets for distribution in Guinea with the distribution scheduled for early 2022. These nets aim to achieve 100% coverage across 15 prefectures in four regions, Boké, Conakry, Labé and Kindia, protecting 5.1 million people when they sleep at night from the bites of malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
This distribution is a continuation of our support to the Ministry of Health and National Malaria Control Programme in Guinea, whom we supported in 2019 when we funded 4.8 million nets.
Guinea 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 3,000 to 4,000 deaths, 2 to 4 million cases of malaria and make a material impact on the economy of Guinea. It is estimated that the improvement in GDP (Gross Domestic Product), a measure of economic performance, would be about USD75 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) 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.
Key elements of our agreement include:
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AMF is funding 3,095,550 LLINs, with distribution in 2022
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This is a co-funding partnership with non-net costs (shipping, pre-distribution, distribution) funded by the US’s President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI)
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To support accurate data gathering, re-checks 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 the dedicated Guinea 2022 distribution page.
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AMF has agreed to fund 3.7 million nets for distribution in Akwa Ibom, and expects to fund 4.4m nets for distribution in Bauchi subject to a review of in-country planning. The distributions are scheduled for early 2022. These nets aim to achieve 100% coverage across both provinces, protecting 15 million people when they sleep at night from the bites of malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
We have established a further need for 10.2 million nets to protect 18 million people to be distributed in three states in 2023 and have agreed the processes in these states and wish to formally commit as soon as possible, but need to raise the funding.
The benefits of being able to commit as soon as possible to funding nets that will be distributed in Nigeria in 2023 are significant.
It allows our co-funding partner, the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI), to bring forward to 2023, three distributions that would otherwise take place in 2024. This would mean the time between the last mass net distribution and the next in these three states would be three years and not four or five. This is very important for effective malaria control as it removes the fourth year period when net coverage levels can be very low and malaria can resurge, potentially undoing all the gains in malaria control achieved over the prior three years.
Nigeria is one of the two most malarious countries in the world with malaria responsible for the deaths of at least 150 children under 5 each day in Nigeria alone, with high incidence levels seen across the large majority of the country.
These nets have the potential to play a major part in reducing deaths and illness. This initial quantity of nets could be expected to prevent 5,000 deaths, 3 to 5 million cases of malaria and make a material impact on the economy of Nigeria. It is estimated that the improvement in GDP (Gross Domestic Product), a measure of economic performance, would be about USD 195 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 National Malaria Elimination Programme of Nigeria and state 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.
Key elements of our agreement include:
- AMF is funding 8,100,000 LLINs, with distribution in 2022
- This is a co-funding partnership with non-net costs (shipping, pre-distribution, distribution) funded by the US’s President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI)
- To support accurate data gathering, re-checks of net need numbers will take place by re-visiting a material number of households chosen at random.
- 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.
- 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 the dedicated province pages below.
Akwa Ibom, Bauchi
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 US$100m raised this (financial) year!
We are thrilled to have passed a significant milestone for AMF with US$100 million raised in a single year for the first time!
Our heartfelt thanks to all our donors and supporters who in many cases have been supporting AMF year in year out, and some for 15 years. We are extraordinarily grateful for your support and for your confidence in our work. We cannot do what we do without you.
We remain a small team – of nine – and this year our overheads will be ~0.5% of revenues so more than 99% of funds raised are spent on programmes. Our overheads and programme monitoring costs are covered by several donors so we remain able to direct 100% of funds from the public to buy nets.
The distribution programmes we have been able to fund with these donations involve 46 million nets that will protect 83 million people. These nets can be expected to save 30,000 to 35,000 lives, avert 15 to 35 million cases of malaria and improve local economies by more than US$1 billion. When people are ill they cannot farm, drive, teach – function, so the improvement in health leads to economic as well as humanitarian benefits.
AMF’s operations team works daily and closely with our partners in six countries to support the programmes and ensure they are carried out accountably and with a particular focus on data.
Current immediate funding gap
We continue to have a significant immediate funding gap, currently US$41.7m, which is likely to increase in the months ahead, so we remain focused on working to close as much of the gap as we can, as soon as we can.
Every US$2 matters
In filling that funding gap, every US$2 matters as each net protects two people when they sleep at night so no donation is too small.
It is notable that the funds raised so far this year have come from more than 120,000 donations from donors in 189 countries with most being in the range US$2 to US$200. The overall range of individual donations is US$2 to US$20m.
As always, our sincere thanks from the team to everyone for their wonderful support and generosity.
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AMF has added to its existing agreement with the DRC Ministry of Health and has agreed to fund 16.4 million nets for distribution in six provinces, Kongo Central, Kinshasa, Ituri, Tshopo, Haut Uele and Bas Uele, for distribution in 2023. These nets aim to achieve 100% coverage across all provinces, protecting 30 million people when they sleep at night from the bites of malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
Of these 16.4 million nets, the funding of 4.2 million nets is contingent upon AMF receiving the necessary funding during 2021 but we are confident this will be achieved.
The benefits of being able to commit now to funding nets that will be distributed in DRC in 2022 and 2023 are significant.
First, it allows our co-funding partner, the Global Fund, not to scale back its allocation of funding in the first two years of the three year funding cycle. Without confirmation of our funding, reprogramming would be necessary, including scaling back of interventions and delayed distributions. This would be required to spread funds evenly and avoid a significant lack of funds for the final year of the funding cycle. Any resulting delays to distributions mean that households have to wait longer than three years to receive new nets. In the third year, nets wear out and so delays extend the period during which households are less well protected which can lead to malaria resurging.
Second, it gives the DRC Ministry of Health time to plan. A three-year rolling nationwide malaria control campaign, covering an area the size of Spain, France, Germany, Sweden and Norway combined, or 25% of the USA land area, is a major logistical and planning exercise. The country’s resources can be focused on implementing the campaign, rather than on updating plans due to lack of funding.
DRC is one of the two most malarious countries in the world with malaria responsible for the deaths of at least 80 children under 5 each day in DRC alone, with high incidence levels seen across the majority of the country.
These nets have the potential to play a major part in reducing deaths and illness. This quantity of nets could be expected to prevent 11,000 deaths, 6 to 11 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, would be about USD 400 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 National Malaria Control Programme of DRC and its distribution partners, 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.
Key elements of our agreement include:
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AMF is funding 16,400,000 LLINs, with distribution in 2023
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This is a co-funding partnership with non-net costs (shipping, pre-distribution, distribution) funded by the Global Fund
-
To support accurate data gathering, re-checks of net need numbers will take place by re-visiting a material number of households chosen at random.
-
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.
-
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 the dedicated province pages below.
List of DRC distributions
2023
Tanganika,
Haut Lomami,
Kongo Central,
Kinshasa,
Ituri,
Tshopo,
Haut Uele,
Haut Katanga,
Bas Uele
2022
Mongala,
Sud Kivu,
Équateur,
Sud Ubangi
2021
Kwilu,
Sankuru,
Haut Lomami,
Haut Uele,
Maniema,
Bas Uele,
Kasai,
Ituri,
Tshopo,
Kasai Oriental
2020
Kinshasa,
Kongo Central,
Sud Ubangi,
Tanganyika,
Haut Katanga,
Haut Lomami
2019
Équateur
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 AMF has added to its existing agreement with the DRC Ministry of Health and has agreed to fund 12.9 million nets for distribution in five provinces, Équateur, Haut Katanga, Sud Ubangi, Tanganyika and Haut Lomami, for distribution in 2022 and early 2023. These nets aim to achieve 100% coverage across all provinces, protecting 23 million people when they sleep at night from the bites of malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
DRC is one of the two most malarious countries in the world with malaria responsible for the deaths of at least 100 children under 5 each day in DRC alone, with high incidence levels seen across the majority of the country.
These nets have the potential to play a major part in reducing deaths and illness. This quantity of nets could be expected to prevent 8,000 deaths, 4 to 8 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, would be about USD 320 million.
We are about to allocate individual donations to these specific distributions and many donations, large and small, will fund these nets.
We will report openly on progress and performance throughout and after the distribution.
Key elements of our agreement include:
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AMF is funding 12,939,250 LLINs, with distribution in 2022 and early 2023
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This is a co-funding partnership with non-net costs (shipping, pre-distribution, distribution) funded by the Global Fund
-
To support accurate data gathering, re-checks of net need numbers will take place by re-visiting a material number of households chosen at random.
-
Household-level data will be collected using electronic-devices and then entered 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.
-
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 the dedicated province pages below.
List of DRC distribution
2023
Tanganika,
Haut Lomami
2022
Mongala,
Sud Kivu,
Équateur,
Haut Katanga,
Sud Ubangi
2021
Kwilu,
Sankuru,
Haut Lomami,
Haut Uele,
Maniema,
Bas Uele,
Kasai Province,
Kasai Oriental Province
2020
Kinshasa,
Kongo Central,
Ituri,
Tshopo
2019
Équateur,
Sud Ubangi,
Tanganyika,
Haut Katanga,
Haut Lomami
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 In September 2019 we informed you that AMF-funded nets had been stolen from Guinea. We are now pleased to report that these nets have been found, identified and returned to Guinea and will be distributed to beneficiaries as intended.
Summary
46,000 AMF-funded nets were stolen in Guinea in 2019, part of a total of 88,000 nets that were diverted from Guinea to Mali, where they were repackaged to be sold to the Malian Ministry of Health for use in their mass distribution campaign. All of these nets were recovered in Mali and have now been returned to Guinea where they will be distributed in areas where they are most needed. We will continue to work with the Guinean authorities to understand the mechanism by which the nets were stolen. The Malian Ministry of Health, Justice Department and the police in Mali have been particularly helpful in this matter and arrests have been made. These 46,000 nets were part of the 4.8 million nets that AMF funded for the Guinea campaign and therefore were 0.96% of the total nets funded.
Detail
In our last full update on this topic, we shared that 98,500 nets had been found in counterfeit packaging in a warehouse in Bamako, the capital of Mali. Since then, an AMF representative based in Guinea has made multiple trips to Bamako and has worked closely with the local partners and the Malian authorities, to understand the situation and to ensure AMF nets are returned to Guinea. The events as we understand them are as follows.
In 2018 the Mali National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) had a shortage of nets for their mass distribution. Given the urgent net gap, an international partner with nets in storage in Bamako agreed to loan 200,000 nets to the NMCP. This was on the basis that the NMCP would procure 200,000 nets after the distribution to return to the international partner. The procurement of the nets was done by the Mali Ministry of Health and the contract was awarded to a company called Elite Global Services.
Elite Global Services did not purchase nets from a World Health Organisation certified net manufacturer. Rather, they diverted nets from Guinea in lorries where they were sent to a small ‘workshop’ warehouse in Bamako. In this ‘workshop’ warehouse, net labels were cut off to remove evidence of net type or provenance. Each net was then wrapped into counterfeit packaging of an established net– Vestergaard’s PermaNet 2.0 – before being sent to a storage warehouse in Bamako.
On 13th September 2019 the ‘workshop’ warehouse was raided by Malian police. On 18th September 2019, AMF’s representative discovered 98,500 nets in the storage warehouse. Evidence found at the ‘workshop’ warehouse strongly suggests that all of the nets stolen from Guinea were present in the storage warehouse.
After the discovery, we carried out an identification process to establish how many of the 98,500 nets belonged to each funder. This showed a total of 88,000 nets from all funders in Guinea, of which 46,000 were AMF nets. The remaining 10,500 nets were unidentifiable.
The Malian authorities helped facilitate the identification process and accepted these findings. They agreed to return the nets. During the COVID-19 pandemic, repatriation of these nets slowed. The nets officially passed from Malian to Guinean possession in Bamako on 29th May 2020. Subsequently transport across the border was arranged, and by September 2020, all nets were returned to Guinea. We have been working with partners in Guinea to send the 46,000 AMF-funded nets to areas with lower net coverage and that work is almost complete. We have been using data from our post distribution monitoring at 9 months after distribution to guide these decisions.
Lessons learned
The processes that we agree with Ministries of Health when funding nets aim to minimise the risk of theft. These include independent monitoring, collection of household level information, and tracking net movement and delivery. We will continue to work with the Guinean authorities to understand better how the nets were diverted to Mali and will update our processes if necessary. An AMF representative in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, is liaising with the Ministry of Health and Justice to understand where in the supply chain the theft occurred.
We have taken specific actions aimed at increasing the chances of identifying AMF nets in the event of a future theft. These include the following new elements that are unique to AMF nets: label size, coloured stitching, coloured loops, bale number on net label, bale number on a banner of the label that passes through the stitching of the net. These elements would enable us to quickly identify AMF nets, even if the label had been cut off, as was the case in the Guinea-Mali situation. We have negotiated these items with our net manufacturers and have already implemented them for subsequent orders in Uganda, DRC and Togo.
We are pleased to have tracked down the stolen nets, and have them returned to Guinea to be used for their original purpose: to protect people from malaria when they sleep at night.
19 Jun 20 – Update 5: June 2020
06 Mar 20 – Update 4: March 2020
05 Dec 19 – Update 3: November 2019
31 Oct 19 – Update 2: October 2019
30 Sep 19 – Update 1: September 2019
24 Sep 19 – AMF investigating possible theft of nets in Guinea
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We are absolutely delighted to have just received a US$20m donation from a single donor.
This donation has been put to work immediately as it has allowed us to confirm funding for a significant net distribution programme in 2022, just a year away. We will publish information about this shortly.
The donation will buy an estimated 10 million long-lasting insecticidal nets (final number dependent upon the final cost/net) that will protect 18 million people when they sleep at night.
In terms of impact, these nets can be expected to save 6,000 to 7,000 lives, avert 3 to 7 million cases of malaria and improve the local economy in the region in which the nets will be distributed by an estimated US$240 million (12x the donation amount). When people are ill they cannot farm, drive, teach – function, so the improvement in health leads to economic as well as humanitarian benefits.
Importantly, this helps reduce the immediate funding gap for AMF's planned net programmes from US$52m to US$32m and is a fantastic boost to this work.
We continue to work hard to make sure our programmes are as effective as ever, and can see the urgent need for nets across the countries we work in. Every donation, large and small, is so important, as every US$2 funds a net that protects two people and helps us close the gap. A huge donation such as the one received this week is fabulous, and our history also shows that many, more modest sized donations have been, and are, critical to achieving our malaria programmes (AMF's donations statistics).
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 AMF has added to its existing agreement with the DRC Ministry of Health and has agreed to fund 6.8 million nets for distribution in Kasai and Kasai Oriental provinces, with a target distribution date of Q4 2021. These nets aim to achieve 100% coverage across both provinces, protecting 12.3 million people when they sleep at night from the bites of malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
DRC is one of the two most malarious countries in the world with malaria responsible for the deaths of at least 100 children under 5 each day in DRC alone, with high incidence levels seen across the majority of the country.
These nets have the potential to play a major part in reducing deaths and illness. This quantity of nets could be expected to prevent 4,000 deaths, 2 to 4 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, would be about USD 160 million.
After the required funding is received, AMF allocates individual donations to specific distributions and so far we have allocated 727 individual donations from 706 donors from 36 countries. These figures will increase as further donations are allocated. Many donations, large and small, help fund these nets.
We will report openly on progress and performance throughout and after the distribution.
Key elements of our agreement include:
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AMF is funding 6,825,000 LLINs, targeting distribution in Q4 2021
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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, re-checks of net need numbers will take place by re-visiting a material number of households chosen at random.
-
Household-level data will be collected using electronic-devices and then entered 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.
-
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 the dedicated distribution pages for
Kasai Province and
Kasai Oriental Province.
List of DRC distributions
2022
Kwilu,
Sankuru,
Haut Lomami,
Mongala,
Sud Kivu
2021
Haut Uele,
Maniema,
Bas Uele,
Kasai Province,
Kasai Oriental Province
2020
Kinshasa,
Kongo Centrale,
Ituri,
Tshopo
2019
Equateur,
Sud Ubangi,
Tanganyika,
Haut Katanga,
Haut Lomami
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 We are delighted to report that AMF now has tax-deductible status for donors in Sweden.
The Against Malaria Foundation has been granted tax-deductible status for donors by Skatteverket, Sweden's tax authority. It is effective from 26 January 2021 and runs through to 31st December 2024. Our organisation number is 502085-3775.
For a donor to qualify,
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a minimum of 200 SEK* must be donated per gift occasion (individual donations below SEK 200 do not count towards the SEK 2,000 total)
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a minimum of 2,000 SEK* must be donated per year (this does not need to be to the same charity)
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taxpayers should include information about their donations in their tax return
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AMF must submit qualifying donations to Skatteverket in the January following the prior calendar year’s end and our submission must include the donor’s social security number
A maximum of 6,000 SEK* is tax-deductible per donor (this does not all need to be to the same charity). The tax-deduction for donors is 25% of the donation amount.
Note: All online donations from Swedish residents automatically receive an acknowledgement with a link to a downloadable tax receipt. For those wishing to make donations by bank transfer or cheque, the relevant bank account and address information can be found on our donations page, and tax receipts are sent on request.
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From the Trustees of the Against Malaria Foundation
We are delighted to inform all our supporters of the wonderful news that the Against Malaria Foundation’s founder and CEO, Rob Mather, has been awarded an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2021 New Year's Honours list for his 'services to medicine and charity'. These awards are given for major contributions to civil life and public service and, consequently, are held in very high esteem.
Rob founded AMF in 2004 and since then has worked tirelessly to raise funds and ensure that bed nets end up over the heads of those that need them. The success of AMF in achieving its goals is undoubtedly down to Rob’s vision, enthusiasm and commitment.
This award follows the Commonwealth Points of Light award in 2018, given to one individual from each of the Commonwealth nations for tackling global challenges. He was recognised for his outstanding work to reduce cases of malaria and child mortality across the world. The award was presented by the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William on behalf of The Queen.
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As 2020 draws to a close we would like to thank all who have supported and worked with AMF this year as without donors, distribution partners, volunteers and pro bono supporters we would not be able to do what we do in contributing to the fight against malaria. Thank you!
Distributions update
We are currently distributing 34 million nets in three countries – Togo, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These nets will protect 61 million people when they sleep at night, which is 5% of the population of the African continent. We are particularly proud of this achievement given the context of COVID-19. Our distribution partners have done a wonderful job of adapting processes to ensure that net distributions are maintained throughout the pandemic.
We are carrying out post-distribution monitoring activities, to assess net presence, use and condition, in six countries – DRC, Ghana, Guinea, Malawi, Papua New Guinea and Zambia – where we have previously distributed nets.
We have recently completed the distribution of 1.9 million nets in Sud-Ubangi province and 4.1 million nets in Haut Katanga province, both in DRC.
In 2021, we have already committed to fund 29 million nets for distribution that will protect a further 52 million people and we hope to add to that total.
Future distributions
There remains a huge need for nets. The gap for the next two years runs into tens of millions of nets. AMF is involved in discussions with a number of countries requiring millions of nets each for the period 2021 to 2023. AMF’s immediate funding gap is many tens of millions of dollars.
We will publish commitments as they are made.
580,000th donation and over US$280 million raised so far!
We are thrilled to have passed the milestone of a quarter of a billion dollars raised, with most donations ranging from a few dollars (and £, €, CAN$, NZ$, AUS$, bitcoin and more) to many thousands.
We are so grateful for your support. Thank you!
Tax-Deductibility
We now have tax-deductible status in a dozen countries. We continue to assess the need for tax-deductibility status in other countries, some of which are already in the application stage and we hope to complete in the very near future.
AMF top ranked!
AMF has again been top-ranked by the two leading organisations 'dedicated to finding
outstanding giving opportunities'.
GiveWell has ranked AMF a top charity, for the twelfth
year in a row
The Life You Can Save has AMF as a top-ranked charity for the twelfth year in a row
A suggestion for the Christmas/Holiday season!
Donate nets instead of gifts.
We send the recipient/s an email (on a date you choose e.g. 25th Dec) with your
personal message and a link to their 'gift page', allowing them to follow the progress
of their nets.
May we wish you a very happy and healthy 2021!
The AMF Team - Rob, Andrew, Peter, Julian, Jenny, Shaun, Aisling, David, Sylvie and Jonas
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We have added to the Transparency section of our website information that shows AMF’s immediate funding gap.
This is the funding we could put to work immediately to protect people when they sleep at night to save lives and prevent illness from malaria. We have sufficient funds raised to cover our core funding and all the programmes we have previously committed to. The immediate funding gap reflects the great potential impact AMF could have with further funds. All publicly raised funds are used exclusively to buy nets.
The page shows
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a summary: funds in hand able to be committed, funds committed, funds available to be committed, AMF approved programmes seeking funding and the resulting immediate funding gap.
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detail: project level information for a) funds committed (both for nets and monitoring costs); b) AMF approved programmes seeking funding
Information is updated ‘real-time’ i.e. as donations are received, costs posted and commitments made.
AMF’s immediate funding gap
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 We are thrilled to be ranked in this way once again.
GiveWell conducts many hours of research on AMF throughout the year and monitors closely our activities. This is via detailed questions, frequent conversations and the sharing by AMF of a significant volume of information and data on a regular basis as well as the GiveWell team having at-will access to a number of AMF’s systems and data sets.
GiveWell's detailed assessment of AMF’s work and impact
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 Charity Intelligence (Canada) has published its annual ranking and we are delighted that AMF is again included as a Top 10 Impact Charity.
Most charities claim that they “make a difference” in the lives of those they work with. Charity Intelligence’s rigorous analysis measures the difference, or the impact, charities actually make to see how each dollar we give can have the most bang for the buck.
“Some charities create a lot of change with the donations given to them. Others have almost nothing to show for the money coming from donors” says Greg Thomson, Director of Research at Charity Intelligence. “Of the 260 Canadian charities we analysed for impact, these Top 10 have the highest measurable demonstrated impact. Our calculations estimate this group of Top 10 Impact Charities delivers average returns of almost seven dollars for every dollar donated, compared with average returns of 1-2 dollars.”
Charity Intelligence (Canada) Top 10 Impact Charities
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 AMF has signed an agreement with the DRC Ministry of Health to fund 16.4 million nets for distribution from June 2021 to February 2022. This represents 54% of DRC’s long-lasting insecticide treated net (LLIN) need for this portion of their three-year rolling universal coverage campaign.
DRC is one of the two most malarious countries in the world with malaria responsible for the deaths of at least 100 children under 5 each day in DRC alone. Malaria is one of the primary health issues in DRC, with high incidence levels seen across the majority of the country.
The nets will be distributed in five of DRC's 26 provinces, specifically:
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Kwilu: 3.9m nets to protect 6.3m people, distribution during Q2 2021
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Sankuru: 1.6m nets to protect 2.7m people, distribution during Q3 2021
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Lomami: 3.1m nets to protect 5.1m people, distribution during Q4 2021
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Mongala: 1.9m nets to protect 3.1m people, distribution during Q1 2022
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Sud Kivu: 5.9m nets to protect 9.6m people, distribution during Q1 2022
In total, 30 million people will be protected from the bites of malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
These nets have the potential to play a major part in reducing deaths and illness. This quantity of nets could be expected to prevent 10,600 deaths, 5 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, would be about USD 395 million.
After the required funding is received, AMF allocates individual donations to specific distributions and so far we have allocated 50,310 individual donations from 12,990 donors from 105 countries. These figures will increase as further donations are allocated. Many donations, large and small, help fund these nets.
We will report openly on progress and performance throughout and after the distribution.
Key elements of our agreement include:
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AMF is funding 16,400,000 LLINs for distribution in 2021/early 2022
-
This is a co-funding partnership with non-net costs (shipping, pre-distribution, distribution) funded by the Global Fund
-
To support accurate data gathering, re-checks of net need numbers will take place by re-visiting a material number of households chosen at random.
-
Household-level data will be collected using electronic-devices and then entered 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.
-
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 via the dedicated distribution page and via the individual links below.
2022 Kwilu, Sankuru, Haut Lomami, Mongala, Sud Kivu
Other DRC distributions
2021 Haut Uele, Maniema, Bas Uele
2020 Kinshasa, Kongo Centrale, Ituri, Tshopo
2019 Tanganyika, Haut Katanga, Haut Lomami
2019 Equateur, Sud Ubangi
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We have now passed a significant milestone thanks to you.
Together we have raised a total of US$250 million since AMF started! The donation that took us past that milestone was one from Ithaca, New York!
The more important figures of course are the number of lives saved, malaria cases averted, people protected and economic improvement as a result of the nets funded, distributed and used for protection at night.
This total equates to the funding of more than 115 million nets to protect 210 million people and an expected impact, once all nets are distributed, of more than 105 million cases of malaria averted, 100,000+ lives saved, and local economic improvement of US$3 billion.
We have also just passed 547,000 donations received, with this coming from over 139,300 people in 192 countries!
As always, our sincere thanks to everyone for their wonderful support and generosity.
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We are closing in on a major milestone thanks to you.
We are 99% of the way to reaching a quarter of a billion dollars raised since AMF started!
This total has been reached thanks to 532,458 donations from 137,500 people from 192 countries.
These funds have allowed us to buy 114 million nets to protect 206 million people with the estimated impact of these nets (once all are distributed and have been in place for three years) being ~100,000 lives saved, 50 to 100 million cases of malaria averted and local economies improved by US$3 billion (12x the total raised). When people are ill they cannot farm, drive, teach - function - so the improvement in health leads to economic as well as humanitarian benefits.
Thank you for your wonderful support - and we’ll announce reaching US$ ¼ billion when we get there!
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A short update on activities that have taken place at the beginning of this year.
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In Uganda, the 2020 mass distribution campaign is due to begin in early July following a lifting of lockdown and changes to the campaign strategy due to COVID-19. The most notable of these changes is the decision to carry out household registration and distribution simultaneously. This change, alongside other considerations due to COVID-19, means that more nets will be needed. Using household level data from the last distribution, we estimated that this additional net need would be 1.3m and have purchased these nets. Distribution of AMF nets will not begin until later in the year but AMF will monitor the first wave of distribution via an independent organisation. Lessons learnt will be made available to all partners so that any necessary improvements to the campaign can be made for subsequent distribution waves. Household level data will still be collected electronically and the planned study to monitor a new net – the Royal Guard – is still planned to take place. Post-distribution monitoring (PDM) 30 months after the 2017/18 distribution is now complete. Field monitoring in the Western region finished in March and the sleeping space coverage at 30 months in the Western region is 74%, a strong result.
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In DRC, the distribution of 1.9 million nets to 550,000 households began 'door to door' in Sud Ubangi province on 24th May. Photos below. This distribution was delayed due to the COVID-19 lockdown and the need to procure PPE (personal protection equipment), availability of cash for payments in province and a security incident during cash transfer from the capital to health zones. Distribution in Haut Katanga province is scheduled to begin in July. Distribution in Tanganyika province will start in July, where registration and distribution will be undertaken simultaneously due to COVID-19. We have purchased 1.5m additional nets due to COVID-19.
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In Togo, the first shipment of 1.5 million AMF nets has arrived in Lomé. Monitoring of the campaign has started with our independent monitor, GRASE Population. Registration and distribution will now take place simultaneously 'door to door'. We have committed to purchasing 0.5m additional nets to ensure full coverage considering the changes due to COVID-19.
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In Ghana, the PDM at 18 months in Brong Ahafo region was successfully completed in March. Data collection in the Upper East region was delayed slightly due to COVID-19, but ultimately took place with our partner World Vision providing additional training to their data collectors on COVID-19 related precautions, including use of PPE. Results of the approach were positive with all households accepting data collectors into their homes for net inspection and many welcoming their COVID-19 sensitisation messages. The Data collection in the third and final region, Ashanti, is taking place now.
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In Guinea, our partner Cabinet Diagnostic undertook PDM at 9 months in four waves between February and May. Results for the first four waves show 94% of nets distributed are present in households with 82% of nets hung and in use.
Our discussions with both the Malian and Guinean authorities are making progress to ensure the nets diverted to Mali are returned to Guinea and used to protect Guineans as intended. A blogpost in the next month will provide an update.
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In Zambia, after pausing the 18-months PDM activity in Central Province in February due to the security situation, our partner CHAZ was able to resume post distribution monitoring in March. This was then forced to stop before completion on 30th March due to Government restrictions on movement due to COVID-19. PDMs resumed in Central and Western province on 16th June and will be followed by the PDM in North-Western province. In addition, we are reviewing the accuracy of the distribution data from the last campaign (2017) by re-entering a large sample of distribution data collected during PDMs.
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In Papua New Guinea (PNG), our partner RAM continues to distribute nets in provinces scheduled to receive this support in 2020. Milne Bay is complete, and the team is hard at work in the Highlands areas. PNG has had relatively few cases of COVID-19, meaning the campaign is continuing with only small changes and minor delays. RAM is, however, taking additional precautions during the distribution: teams are quarantined for a number of days after travelling from Port Moresby to the provinces and distribution is now carried out house-to-house rather than at fixed sites where large groups would gather. The arrival of a small number of nets (16,000) in Enga province is delayed by one month due to airlines not operating. Overall, the campaign is on track to distribute 1.1m AMF-funded nets in high-risk areas.
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In Malawi, our partner the Malawi Red Cross Society was scheduled to undertake PDM activity at 18 months in April. This was postponed due to Government COVID-19 restrictions. Following the sharing of experiences between our partner World Vision in Ghana and the Red Cross in Malawi (and we were delighted to see the openness and willingness of this sharing and cooperation - sharing best practice), and a relaxation of government measures, a COVID-19 approach has been devised and PDMs will resume in July.
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Summary
Recent modelling by the World Health Organisation (WHO) warns that the number of malaria deaths in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 could double in comparison to 2018 if malaria prevention activities are reduced or delayed by COVID-19.
Detail
The report estimates that in the worst case scenario the number of deaths would reach 769,000, which is equivalent to the mortality level seen 20 years ago. This scenario would arise if COVID-19 were to stop LLIN campaigns and routine LLIN distributions, limit access to effective treatment for malaria and reduce the availability of antimalarial drugs. The model assumes that other forms of malaria prevention would continue (i.e. indoor residual spraying and seasonal malaria chemoprevention), which is not necessarily the case.
There are 27 countries in sub-Saharan Africa planning to carry out LLIN campaigns this year. Together, these countries account for 85% of total malaria cases and deaths in the region. If the campaigns do not take place, the WHO estimates that:
“…malaria cases and deaths will increase by up to 10%, even if access to effective malaria treatment is maintained at current level. It is estimated that there would be between 5 and 17 million additional cases… and up to 30 000 lives would be lost to malaria compared to the 2018 baseline. About 70% of these additional deaths would be of children under the age of 5.”
Furthermore, it is possible that treatment will be affected by the pandemic. Individuals may avoid visiting health centres for malaria diagnoses and treatments for fear of catching the virus, and overstretched health facilities may be unable to provide effective treatment.
AMF is funding nets for LLIN campaigns in four countries in 2020: DRC (13.1m) nets, Uganda (11.6m nets), Togo (3.5m nets) and PNG (1.1m nets).
Currently, all countries are following WHO guidance and intend to continue their net campaigns, and are working on strategies and operational adjustments that will enable nets to be distributed where they are needed while minimising the risk of spreading coronavirus.
Africa registered a 43% jump in reported COVID-19 cases between April 16th and 23rd.
We continue to work with our partners to ensure nets are distributed and the worst impacts laid out in the WHO report are avoided.
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Since our previous update, the eight countries where AMF is working have all implemented COVID-19 measures. These are affecting our programmes in different ways and more detail is provided below.
We are in regular contact with our partners to receive updates and discuss adjustments to plans. This is particularly important for the four countries in which we have 2020 net distributions planned – DRC , Uganda, Togo and PNG. We continue to support the strong guidance from WHO to maintain malaria prevention activities. Halting or delaying net distributions could well result in a spike in malaria cases and deaths that exceeds the potential harm caused by COVID-19. It is of course vital that all measures are taken to ensure the safety of the health workers that carry out distributions and we are discussing with our in-country partners the changes needed to our normal procedures.
The Alliance for Malaria Prevention (AMP) has recently published guidelines for carrying out distributions in COVID-19 affected countries. To reduce the chance of transmission, training will be carried out remotely and distribution sites that attract crowds will be avoided. The registration process – the door to door visits where each household is surveyed to understand the net need – is likely to be simplified. These changes will mean that net need is not known as accurately as in a normal distribution and it is therefore likely that an increased number of nets will be required to reach similar and acceptable levels of coverage. Other factors that are likely to increase net need include: the recommendation that those suffering from COVID-19 self-isolate and sleep separately; nets that have been used for COVID-19 sufferers may be rejected afterwards for fear of infection.
Many tools are available for tracking COVID-19, but we have been using this one to follow the cases in the countries in which we’re working. This graphic also shows a visualisation of the propagation of COVID-19 through the continent of Africa.
Impact on AMF’s programmes
Distributions
DRC – Going ahead as planned (with COVID-19 related operational adjustments)
The distribution in Sud Ubangi province is going ahead and is due to begin on May 5th. It will be a door to door distribution (as always planned) and not a ‘fixed site distribution’ where people would gather to receive nets. The PNLP has confirmed to us that PPE equipment will be available to all health workers and we will be monitoring closely the delivery and availability of this protective equipment. As current measures prohibit travel from Kinshasa to the provinces, the normal national staff from the NMCP and our distribution partner will not be present in the province. Risk mitigation measures have been taken and AMF has increased its independent monitoring presence in Sud Ubangi with our independent monitor RHA. Distribution in Haut Katanga is still due to go ahead, and discussions are ongoing as to how to reorganise the distribution which was originally planned as a fixed site distribution.
Uganda – Temporary delay
2020 distribution campaign on hold until current lockdown ends. Last week the 14 day lockdown was extended until May 5th. Currently, this is a 6 weeks delay to the net distribution.
Togo – Currently going ahead as planned
Discussions are continuing to establish what operational changes may be needed for the 2020 distribution. Currently the country is not in full lockdown, but a curfew and social distancing measures are in place.
PNG – Going ahead as planned (with COVID-19 related operational adjustments)
Social distancing measures are in place but distributions are continuing as they have been deemed an essential activity by the government.
Post-distribution monitoring
Guinea – Going ahead as planned (with COVID-19 related operational adjustments)
The final PDM at 9 months is going ahead this week with the following measures taken in line with government advice: 4 people per vehicle, 2 masks per day for all workers, alcohol solution, regular hand washing, social distancing, hygiene measures and temperature checks on leaving Conakry. We will continue to monitor closely the situation.
AMF’s PDM activities have been delayed in some countries as follows:
Ghana – Temporary delay
There is a 2-month delay to PDMs due to lockdown. The situation will be reviewed in 10 days when the current lockdown period ends, although high COVID-19 cases may mean that there is an extension.
Malawi – Temporary delay
There is a 2 month delay to PDMs due to COVID-19 measures. A three-week lockdown began last Saturday but has since been overruled by the high court.
Zambia – Temporary delay
PDMs have been suspended due to measures taken by the government. The country is not a full lockdown and options for continuing monitoring work are being explored.
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