This was the first year of the new funding cycle for the Ensure 81% Coverage of Long Lasting Insecticide Treated Nets (LLINs) in Vanuatu Programme. The three-year (2018-2020) US$1,566,350 programme is supported by the Global Fund and implemented by UNDP in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.

In Vanuatu, malaria has historically been one of the leading causes of ill health. The country is a disparate rural archipelago consisting of 83 islands across six provinces. Intensified efforts by the Ministry of Health’s National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme over the past several years, in cooperation with UNDP through the Global Fund, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), have seen significant reduction in malaria prevalence.