Introduction

Established by His Majesty King Mswati III (former ALMA Chair) in May 2019, the Eswatini End Malaria Fund was the first fund to launch.

The End Malaria Fund’s primary objective is to mobilise financial and in-kind resources to support the elimination of malaria in the Kingdom. It works in close partnership with the national malaria programme of the ministry of health.

The fund is managed by an independent board of directors, which are appointed by His Majesty King Mswati III, in consultation with the ministries of health and finance. The fund is currently chaired by Ms Thandile Nxumalo, the chief executive of Sanlam Eswatini.

Key commitments

Supported the drafting of the national Global Fund grant application, which secured US$9.6 million in funding for the national malaria programme. 

Helped identify opportunities to re-programme existing resources, which resulted in an increase in financial utilisation by the national malaria programme to over 95%. 

During the 2020/21 malaria season, there was a national stockout of key antimalarials used to prevent and treat malaria. The secretariat partnered with the ministry of health to procure artesunate to restore coverage at health facilities. The fund then independently negotiated and procured primaquine, which was then transferred from the fund to the central medical stores. 

During the 2020/21 malaria season, the national malaria programme determined that it was necessary to significantly increase the number of structures receiving indoor residual spraying. However, this had not be budgeted and the programme faced a budget gap. The fund paid the salaries of indoor residual spraying operators and provided maintenance to vehicles, which allowed the vector control campaign to be extended. 

MTN and Swazimobile, the two biggest mobile telephone operators, donated in-kind SMS messaging, which was used to distribute nationwide messaging about the threat of malaria. MTN also donated in-kind support for the ministry of health’s disease notification system, enabling the national malaria programme to receive real-time updates when a case of malaria is identified. 

The fund organised a national event to commemorate the launch of the Kingdom’s new national malaria elimination plan. This event was attended by senior leaders and received national media attention. 

The board of directors and secretariat have sensitised traditional leaders, religious leaders, diplomats, the media and youth to the burden of malaria. As a result, malaria has received increased attention and coverage in the media.

The End Malaria Fund supported the establishment of a national Malaria Youth Corps in May 2022. 

Steven Mthethwa: Director of the Eswatini Malaria Elimination Fund

Steven is the Eswatini Malaria Elimination Fund Director overseeing secretariat staff and supporting the board in its advocacy, resource mobilisation and accountability efforts towards supporting malaria elimination.

He has vast experience in project planning, management and resource mobilisation with a ten-year track record that includes supporting the Eswatini Ministry of Health as a Grant Coordinator mobilising resources for the national malaria response including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as Southern African Development Community (SADC) efforts to eliminate malaria.

Steven is a computer scientist by training. He holds a BSc in Computer Networking from the University of the West of Scotland in Glasgow, Scotland.

Learn more about the Eswatini End Malaria Fund

Please visit the Eswatini End Malaria Fund website for more information.