The Global Fund Board welcomes investments to finish AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; Expresses concern concerning the growing needs resulting from the post-crisis within the face of worldwide economic pressure – press releases

The Global Fund Board welcomes investments to finish AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; Expresses concern concerning the growing needs resulting from the post-crisis within the face of worldwide economic pressure

April 25, 2024

– The Executive Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) held its 51st meeting this week in Geneva, Switzerland. Anticipating record disbursements this 12 months, with an unprecedented pace of investment in resilient and sustainable health systems (RSSH) and pandemic preparedness and response (PPR), the Board repeatedly highlighted the various challenges – including climate change, conflict, displacement, geopolitics, the economic situation, particularly the erosion of human rights and gender equality – which undermine the capability of the Global Fund partnership to eliminate these three diseases by 2030.

The Board expressed the necessity to handle the inevitable impact that the present polycrisis will proceed to have on the work of the Global Fund partnership to finish TDs and strengthen health systems.

“The Global Fund is a model that works, having saved 59 million lives and making the largest-ever investment in RSSH and the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria,” said Lady Roslyn Morauta, Chair of the Global Fund Board. “But we also need to clearly assess the challenges we face and the need to set a positive agenda, progress towards sustainable development and adapt to risks, challenges and uncertainties.”

The issue of helping countries maintain progress became a central theme throughout the meeting resulting from the unstable environment and the proven fact that there are lower than six years left to attain the goals set out within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“One of the most important issues for this Council is ensuring that countries have what they need to sustain the impact achieved through Global Fund support,” said Bience Gawanas, Vice-Chair of the Global Fund Board.

Board members representing the communities we serve have expressed concerns concerning the sustainability of our work if global funding for programs to combat HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and health systems is reduced. They emphasized the comparative advantage of the Global Fund and the inclusive nature of its engagement.

The Board reiterated the Global Fund’s unwavering commitment to human rights and gender equality. A special opening session on programmatic approaches to handle disturbing trends in human rights and gender equality set a sobering stage for the Global Fund’s Board of Directors deliberations.

“The alarming erosion of human rights, especially for the LGBTQI+ community, and the stalling – and in some places reversing – progress on gender equality has a direct and material impact on our ability to achieve our goals as a partnership, especially on HIV, but also on tuberculosis and malaria.” – said Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund. “Put simply, this is an existential threat to progress in the fight against HIV. We spend a lot of time and energy working with our partners on the ground to minimize the damage, but we recognize that we cannot turn this situation around on our own.”

In the face of multiple crises and economic pressures, it is crucial to hitch forces with partners in a world health architecture. In this spirit, the Council approved the establishment of a joint committee working group to strengthen cooperation and coordination with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Financial Facility (GFF). They also praised the presence of Gavi’s CEO, Sania Nishtar, and GFF’s head of secretariat, Luc Laviolette, at considered one of the Board sessions. All three organizations recognized the vital importance of their close cooperation, especially on malaria, where hard-earned gains are threatened by challenges reminiscent of climate change and insecticide resistance.

“The health impacts of climate change are already killing people in the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities, whether from malaria, heat stress or other vector-borne diseases such as dengue,” Sands said. “The people most in danger from the health risks of climate change are the people we serve. The Global Fund Partnership might want to adapt to climate change to make sure our programs are effective.

Resource mobilization for the present grant cycle is progressing as planned, and plans for a 2025 fundraising conference are underway. The Board recognized Replenishment’s difficult and changing environment and the busy international calendar and emphasized the necessity for cooperation and coordination amongst global health partners to attain shared success. All partners, including the World Health Organization, agreed on the necessity for good financing of all health initiatives to make sure good synergies and complementarities.

The Board also approved a top quality assurance policy for vector control products and updated a procurement policy that can ensure equitable access to quality-assured health products and innovations.