Global Fund and PAHO Strengthen Their Partnership through the Infectious Disease Elimination Initiative – Updates

Global Fund and PAHO are strengthening their partnership through the Infectious Disease Elimination Initiative

October 1, 2024

– On the occasion of the 61st meeting of the Board of Directors of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), health ministers and delegations from member states gathered in Washington, DC to review progress made under the Elimination Initiative (EI). The Global Fund and other partners expressed their continued support for this initiative.

Launched in September 2019, the EI PAHO program is a groundbreaking effort to eliminate greater than 30 infectious diseases within the Americas by 2030. This initiative offers countries within the region a crucial opportunity to speed up progress toward multi-disease elimination goals, especially during recovery from setbacks attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The goal of EI is not only to eliminate targeted diseases, but also to save lives. The aim of EI is to ensure the provision of integrated health services and address the social factors that perpetuate the occurrence of these diseases, particularly in vulnerable populations. Sylvain Aldighieri, director of the Department of Prevention, Control and Elimination of Infectious Diseases at PAHO. “It builds on our experience from decades of successful disease elimination in the Americas and catalyzes the political will and technical capacity to do so for several other diseases.”

Since its inception in 2002, the Global Fund has supported the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria within the Latin America and Caribbean region. Mobilized $3.23 billion in support in 24 countries (including multi-country grant countries). The EI initiative can leverage the Global Fund’s significant investments within the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, which have built and strengthened health systems and communities across the region.

“Collaboration with the EI PAHO initiative allows us to ensure the sustainability and effective use of Global Fund investments in the region,” said Giulia Perrone, regional manager of the Global Fund team for Latin America and the Caribbean. “The health systems and communities we support in the fight against HIV, TB and malaria have played a key role in enabling a rapid and effective response to Covid-19. Increasingly integrated health systems and services, including at the community level, can simultaneously effectively detect and treat other diseases and ensure that countries are better prepared for future health challenges.”

By supporting cross-cutting elements of the health system and strengthening community capability through optimized investments in countries, the Global Fund contributes significantly to the event of the PAHO Elimination Initiative. Empowering countries to effectively reply to overlapping infectious diseases will ensure sustainable development and long-term disease elimination success within the Americas Region.

More information could be found on the web site NO page.