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The Seventh Global Fund Replenishment Conference takes place from Sunday 18 to Tuesday 21 September in New York. The institution wants to raise 18 billion dollars for the next three years, which will be dedicated to financing health actions in low- and middle-income countries and where populations are most exposed to AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. .
The organization is not the best known. The Global Fund against HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis, however, plays an essential role in the fight against these diseases, for which it is the main source of funding. It is estimated that the programs he has supported over the past 20 years have saved 50 million lives.
But to achieve this, the fund must be replenished every three years. This gives rise to a large conference where States from all over the world announce their contributions. During the last replenishment conference of the Global Fundin 2019 in France, $14 billion raisedthat is ” largest amount ever raised by a global health organization “, according to Françoise Vanni, director of external relations and communication of the Global Fund.
Right now, she says, we are rolling out the funds that were raised at the replenishment conference that was hosted in 2019 in Lyon, under the auspices of President Macron in France. And at that replenishment conference, we had raised $14 billion, which at the time was the largest amount ever raised by a global health organization, not by the Global Fund, not by any other. This has enabled us, in the current cycle of grants, to deploy many more resources in the different countries where we operate, so around 120 countries. Today, we are of course not only the largest funder of the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, but also the largest funder of health system strengthening grants in low- and middle-income countries. , with approximately 1.4 billion over the last year, deployed solely for the strengthening of health systems, of which we have seen with the Covid-19 crisis how essential they are in order to be able to respond not only to existing pandemics, but also to the news that arrives and will unfortunately continue to arrive in the future.
Françoise Vanni, Director of External Relations and Communications at the Global Fund, explains how the funding is used
« Prevention and information campaigns »
In the 120 countries where it is active, the Global Fund currently finances “ prevention and information campaigns “, but also with a ” support for health personnel and community personnel, who play an essential role “, according to Françoise Vanni.
For example, in the fight against malaria, we fund the distribution of mosquito nets, we also fund prevention campaigns for HIV, tuberculosis or malaria, and information campaigns. We finance the treatments. So really a whole range of actions from prevention to the most sophisticated treatment. And we also finance the strengthening of health systems, because of course, to fight against specific diseases, there must be health systems that can work. So we allocate quite a bit of funding to everything, for example the capacity of laboratories, the capacity of drug supply chains, the capacity of a country to monitor health information and know what is happening in the different regions in terms of epidemic. So, all these basic capacities, we support them a lot, and including of course the health personnel and in particular the community personnel. Community health workers play an essential role in the fight against malaria, against HIV, against tuberculosis, against Covid-19, and ultimately against all diseases that affect communities.
Françoise Vanni, Director of External Relations and Communications at the Global Fund, explains examples
At least $18 billion for “ 20 million lives »
This year, 18 billion which are expected. Enough to save 20 million additional lives, anticipates the Global Fund. This objective is ambitious, because the fight against HIV, malaria and tuberculosis has slowed down since 2019. The Covid has marked a halt, programs have been stopped dead, to such an extent that concern is felt: the 2030 goals set by the international community may now be unattainable. Ambitious objectives since it is purely and simply a question of ending these three pandemics on this date.
Ahead of this conference, French-speaking civil society launched a call for solidarity aimed at French-speaking contributors, explains Marilyne Noah, member of the Cameroonian NGO Impact Santé Afriqueco-editor of the call:
We co-wrote this call for French-speaking solidarity, which aims to call on French-speaking donor countries to support the Global Fund and increase their contribution. This call for French-speaking solidarity has already collected nearly 700 signatures from organizations around the world. It was signed by several personalities such as Ismaël Lo, Yannick Noah, Djaili Amadou Amal… and many other personalities and many other leaders. We hope, we civil societies, communities affected by malaria and tuberculosis, living with HIV-AIDS, that this call will be heard by the leaders of French-speaking countries, but also by all the leaders of the world so that we reach the target of $18 billion. There is an urgent need to act because it must be said that there are 20 million lives at stake, and we really hope that at least 18 billion dollars can be donated to the Global Fund so that it can save those 20 million lives.
According to Marilyne Noah, member of the Cameroonian NGO Impact Santé Afrique, co-editor of the appeal for donations, we must “save 20 million lives”