Interview Collins Nti, President, Country Coordinating
Mechanism GF, Ghana

1. Who do you report to, are accountable to?

We do not report to the NMCP or the Ministry of Health. We are
independent. We combine public sector, private sector,
academia and civil society. Together with the in-country
partners we submit the proposals to the GF with regard to
HIV/Aid, TB and malaria. We do not implement the programme,
our in-country partners do that.

2. Who are the in-country partners?
These are the MoH, the Ghana Health Service, the NMCP, Anglo
Gold Ashanti (malaria; they do the spraying), ADRA Adventist
Relief (and others like Aids Commission, Planned Parenthood,
etc).

3. We heard in Geneva that the programme is a big success,
do you concur?
Yes. It is a great programme. It really works. We should do it all
over the country.
4. That is good to hear, but we also hear of things going
wrong How do you deal with such things? Like irregular
spraying?
Lack of spraying is a BIG problem. A SERIOUS problem. We
have a serious resurgence of malaria in sixteen of our
twentyfive national areas. Ashanti can now only spray in nine

 areas, all in the north. In the rest we see malaria coming back
in a frightening way.

5. So how does this happen and what can you do about it?
The reason this happened was that GF cut our funding. In the
new funding model, only 9 districts are covered. We don’t have
money for anything else.

6. But the danger of interrupted spraying is that you
encourage resistance of the malaria parasite. Malaria can
come back even worse than it was before.
Exactly! You are 100 % right! That is why the situation is
terrible! Malaria is now very high in those areas. We want the
fund to start the funding for all 25 districts again.

7. But is the GF accountable for the fact that they don’t pay
for everything that is needed? Is it in the end not your
government’s responsibility that the programme is
comprehensive?
Yes but we have a limited envelope. We as CCM only deal with
the GF. If the fund gives too little it is just that you can’t get
more. I know that the government through the NMCP has
started making other arrangements for funding though. To get
money for Anglo Gold to resume the spraying.

8. How long have the 16 areas been without spraying?
It’s about a year. The new funding model started in 2015. And
even for (the next round ?) in 2017 we must look elsewhere
again.

 9. But that means that the insufficient funding came through
more than a year ago, and probably the GF decision to cut
funding was made some time before that. Couldn’t you
have alerted the government in time, and couldn’t the
government have started to raise funds much, much
earlier?

When we developed the concept note (for 2015-2017) we put in
the 25 districts. We thought we were going to get enough. That
we didn’t get it was a disappointment.

10.

Are you doing something about it now?

Yes. Two weeks ago we had a GF meeting with all partners
about this.

11.
So what is the outcome and what is going to be
done?
As I said we look for funds. I suggest you talk to the MoH about
that.

12.
We hear that there are problems with the health
structures, including a fire in a medicines warehouse in
January this year and that that was the reason you
contracted an SA company, Imperial Health Services, to
distribute the medicines. Is that going well?
Yes, it is going well. We talk to the regional managers in the
regional facilities and they report that the stocks arrive on time.

 13.
But with the ‘push’ system, the people from local
clinics in the region must go and pick the drugs from the
warehouses, right? The problem there is that there seems
to be a lack of communication so that the local people
never know whether the drugs are there or now, and they
don’t want to come for nothing, so they wait to be
informed of new stock –but that phone call never comes.
The health system must be strengthened, it is true. Sometimes
you can’t even contact the facilities because there is no
electricity, phone or internet.

14.
Coming back to the problem of resistance as a result
of such interruptions, what is the solution?

It is true that the whole programme can be destroyed if the
government doesn’t get its house in order. But this is entirely
the responsibility of the government of Ghana.

15.
Are you as CCM in any way in the position to
pressurise the government for better performance?
Yes we are. We discuss a lot. The Chief Director of the MoH is a
member. The Ghana Health Services director is a member. And
yes we ask them to explain.

16.
I guess you asked them for explanations with regard
to the fire in the medicines warehouse in January 2015.
I haven’t the slightest idea what is going on with that. Really
you must ask this on the level of the Ministry. The government
appointed a commission to look into this and we understand

 that there is a report. But the details of that report nobody
knows.

17.
But surely it is vital for you as a public institution
concerned with the issue to find out what is in that report?
Haven’t you asked? You just said that the Chief Director of
the MoH is a member of your structure?
There are processes. The government must study that report
and then the government will issue a white paper with
recommendations. We could maybe ask questions about that
white paper after it is issued. We cannot intervene now.

18.
We understand that journalists can sit in on your
meetings as CCM? Are they advertised, when and where
are they held?
Oh yes! Everybody can come! If they just contact the
secretariat, they can give them a meeting calendar.

19.

What are the contacts for the secretariat?

I don’t know them off hand. I’ll give them to you on Monday.