Even Oxfam blasts our aid policy: £70m malaria shceme branded a waste that 'puts lives at risk'

Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria is 'dangerous distraction' - charity
Report says Britain's funding for scheme should be withdrawn
Project to boost medication is being piloted in seven African countries

PUBLISHED: 23:16 GMT, 24 October 2012 | UPDATED: 07:50 GMT, 25 October 2012

Backer: Government funding for the Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria was signed off by the Department for International Development while Andrew Mitchell was in charge

A foreign aid programme receiving more than £70million in Government cash to fight malaria is ‘a dangerous distraction’, according to a damning report by Oxfam.

The charity wants funding withdrawn and says the scheme, which aims to boost provision of malaria medication in Africa, fails to help those most in need.

Oxfam’s concerns follow renewed criticism of the Department for International Development over the billions it is pouring into overseas aid.

International Development Secretary Justine Greening is to examine every aid contract worth more than £1million in a bid to tackle waste.

The UK is one of the main financial backers of the Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria, which hopes to boost the circulation of the most effective anti-malaria medication by subsidising private sector suppliers.

But Oxfam says selling medication ‘excludes poor people’ and that treatments are not reaching those who are most at risk of dying from the mosquito-borne disease.

The Government has spent £71.6million on the AMFm project since it was launched in 2009.

It contributed £40million during the first two years followed by £31.6million last year.

Funding for the past two years was signed off while Andrew Mitchell –who resigned as Chief Whip last week – was in charge of the DfID.

Oxfam says the programme, which is administered by The Global Fund and is being piloted in seven countries including Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria, should be abandoned.

The charity admits the programme has led to increased distribution of medicine but says it distracts from more effective solutions.

Oxfam’s senior health policy advisor, Doctor Mohga Kamal Yanni, said: ‘There is no cheap option or short cut to combat malaria.

Support: Funding for the scheme was approved while Mr Mitchell was International Development Secretary

‘The AMFm is a dangerous distraction from genuine solutions like investing in health workers. The Global Fund must act on the evidence and put a stop to the AMFm now.’

The scheme is also backed by UNITAID, an international drug-purchasing body; the Canadian government; and Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates’s charitable foundation.

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A DfID spokesman said: ‘Studies have shown that drugs have got to remote areas and more vulnerable groups are now being reached.’

The Global Fund defended the programme and a spokesman said: ‘Some Western aid groups oppose a pragmatic approach that includes any involvement of the private sector.

‘But the reality of this programme is that it is getting life-saving medicine to people who need it most from the private sector outlets where they already seek treatment.

‘To call that a health risk is simply untrue.’

UK aid spending is due to rise from £8billion a year to £12billion in order to hit a target of 0.7 per cent of GDP.