The International Community Steps Up the Fight Against
HIV, TB and Malaria – But is it enough?
For immediate release
10 October 2019 (Lyon, France) – Today the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria held its historic 6th Replenishment Conference – an international gathering of representatives from across the Global Fund partnership: donor governments, the private sector, implementing country governments, civil society and communities impacted by the three diseases. Hosted by President Macron and the French government, the international community renewed its commitment to end the three diseases by 2030 with many partners making last minute increases to their pledges pushing the Replenishment outcome to an unprecedented USD 14.02 billion. Canada showed continued leadership alongside other donor countries, in increasing their previous contribution by almost 16% to a total of CAD 930.4 million – an investment that will help to save 2 million lives.
Meeting the Global Fund’s replenishment target of at least USD 14 billion enables Global Fund programming to save 16 million lives and avert 234 million new infections over the 2020-2022 period. While this is undoubtedly a tremendous collective win that comes after months of extraordinary efforts and leadership by all partners, we must remember that the target was set as a challenge for the global community to beat– the USD 14 billion target was the floor, not the ceiling. So while today’s Replenishment is a moment to celebrate, we must also ask ourselves, have we done enough? Will this get us to where we need to be to meet our 2030 goals? The answer is a definitive no, not yet.
According to the Get Back on Track Report issued by the Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN) in July 2018, a replenishment of USD 18 billion is what is required to fully fund the Global Fund and meet its contribution to the Global Plans.
“Stepping up the fight should not be seen as a choice, but as the fulfillment of a promise: a promise to deliver on the SDGs, a promise to end the three global epidemics by 2030. Today’s global achievement in reaching USD 14 billion is a decisive step in the right direction but more financing is required to get back on track for 2030”, says Robin Montgomery, Executive Director of the Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD) and Alternate Board Member to the Developed Country NGO Delegation to the Global Fund Board.
Investments in the Global Fund are among the most positive and high-impact contributions that we can make towards improving the health and well-being of people around the world. Global Fund programming brings scaled access to lifesaving prevention, diagnostics, treatment and care services for the most marginalized communities, and plays a critical and catalytic role in fostering systemic change.
“Global Fund investments nurture healthy and empowered communities, bring down legal, social, and economic barriers to service access, and contribute to a world where gender inequality and infringements on fundamental human rights are a thing of the past”, said Mary Ann Torres, Executive Director of International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO).
Stepping up the fight means breaking the flatlining of progress in meeting SDG 3. For this, increased investment from international donor governments with bolstered levels of Official Development Assistance (ODA), private sector contributions, and domestic resources in recipient countries remain in urgent demand.
“Today’s successful 6th Global Fund Replenishment does not give us licence to sit back and relax knowing the Global Fund is at work. Rather, it is a continued call to action that we need to do more to meet the Global Plans and our 2030 promises of an end to the three leading global killers of HIV, TB and malaria”, says Montgomery.
Contact:
Kate Alexander
Senior Program and Membership Officer
Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD)
Tel: 613-233-7440 ext. 110
Email: kalexander@icad-cisd.com
