Annual Report Flagship Fund
FLAGSHIP FUND
The Flagship Fund is the END Fund’s original fund. It is the most programatic and geographically diverse fund. Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, the Flagship Fund succeeded in demonstrating its values of flexibility, high impact, and inclusion. The END Fund’s COVID-19 Response Fund was created as a sub-fund within the Flagship Fund to support COVID-19 prevention through existing and new implementing partners, with support to COVID-19 prevention efforts spanning 23 countries, including the United States.
In 2020, program countries were able to restart MDA activities by implementing safety measures recommended by the WHO. Madagascar led the way by adopting a door-to-door approach to NTD treatment and conducting an integrated campaign led by its Ministry of Health.
In India, the shift towards increased use of technology for programmatic work meant that the planning, coordinating, training, and review meetings for the deworming campaign were organized online. This flexibility allowed the program to reach nearly 19 million children through a community-based treatment plan. Mauritania is on the verge of eliminating trachoma as a public health problem.
Flagship Fund’s Impact 2020
64M PEOPLE TREATED
TREATMENTS VALUED AT $196M
256K HEALTH WORKERS TRAINED
11,534 SURGERIES PERFORMED
Spotlight Madagascar
At the start of the pandemic, Bao Efragie noticed a stark change in her community in Ambohimiadana, Madagascar. The lockdown had caused fear and isolation to spread through her village, making it difficult for Bao to reach people with vital health information and life-changing medications for NTDs. This year, community health workers around the world had to adapt their approach to health delivery to reduce the risk associated with human contact. In Madagascar, this meant limiting contact through an integrated approach to treatment, where multiple diseases are treated in a single visit. Health workers also treated individuals at their households to avoid the large gatherings typical of a mass drug administration (MDA). Bao Efragie, CHW for over 12 years in Ambohimiadana, Madagascar.
Bao was trained in COVID-19 risk mitigation and equipped with the necessary protective equipment. She went door-to-door around her community, not only providing medications but also reassuring people with health advice and reporting suspected COVID-19 cases to the central hospital. Bao plans to continue as a health worker for the rest of her life, taking pride in helping her community in a multitude of ways. This year especially showed the importance of Bao’s work, as she not only administered medication but also offered a safe point of contact to dispel fears in uncertain times.
Community Health Worker, Razafimandimby Dieudonné, knocks on the door of a house during the MDA in Vatomandry, Madagascar.
A child receives their medicine during the community based MDA in Madagascar. Normally, children would receive this medicine at school, but due to the pandemic health workers had to bring the medicine into communities.
