Objective: Save the Lives of 20 Million People

What can you do with $18 billion? You could save 20 million lives in three years. That’s what the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is proposing for its Seventh Replenishment this autumn in the United States.

 The Global Fund was established in 2002 in response to the challenge, set out in the Millennium Development Goals, to fight the three major pandemics. Since then, investments totalling more than $53 billion from the Global Fund’s many public and private donors have saved the lives of 44 million people. Across the globe, mortality rates for the diseases that most affect the world’s most vulnerable populations have fallen sharply.

The Global Fund was established in 2002 in response to the challenge, set out in the Millennium Development Goals, to fight the three major pandemics

Twenty years on, the impact of COVID-19 has set back many of the programmes that made these results possible. The conclusion could not be clearer or more devastating: a new pandemic has widened an inequality gap that we were trying to close. This situation has underscored an unacceptable degree of inequality in vaccine access according to countries’ wealth, as well as the precariousness of our security systems and response to such threats.

C.H. Rennie Hospital in Kakata (Liberia) / Dominic Chavez (World Bank)

This is where the Global Fund has made its name as a key player in global health. As a part of its COVID-19 response, the Global Fund was one of the founding organisations behind the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A), co-leading two of its pillars: diagnostics and the health systems connector (the other two being therapeutics and the COVAX vaccine initiative). This response has involved the mobilisation of more than $4 billion in more than 100 countries, primarily to strengthen national responses to the pandemic by providing supplies such as tests, therapeutics, protective equipment and oxygen.

The $18 billion that the Global Fund aims to raise to finance its programmes from 2024 to 2026 will make it possible to reverse the setbacks in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria caused by COVID-19

The $18 billion that the Global Fund aims to raise to finance its programmes from 2024 to 2026 will make it possible to reverse the setbacks in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria caused by COVID-19. But this funding will also accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 3 (health and well-being for all), universal health coverage and strengthening the preparedness system for future pandemics. To this end, the Global Fund plans to allocate $6 billion to strengthen health systems, including support for health workers, facilities, management systems and health information.

In addition, through the co-financing requirements of its programmes and technical assistance, the Global Fund seeks to catalyse $59 billion in investment by recipient governments in their respective national health systems. It is estimated that every dollar invested in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria will generate a return of $31 in terms of health and economic benefits for communities.

It is estimated that every dollar invested in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria will generate a return of $31 in terms of health and economic benefits for communities

While it may seem cold to focus on the numbers behind the investments, the returns they generate and the indicators achieved, these efforts will help to reduce inequalities in health services. Moreover, as part of the Global Fund’s long-term strategy, this will be done from a rights and gender-equality perspective, making people’s health the focus of health systems and putting the most heavily affected communities at the forefront of the fight to ensure no one is left behind.

Now is the time to renew and strengthen Spain’s commitment to this initiative

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the need to make health equity a fundamental goal for the global health system. The Global Fund is a key player in achieving this goal. This multilateral initiative channels donor contributions through a work plan aligned with Spanish and European development cooperation policy priorities.

Now is the time to renew and strengthen Spain’s commitment to this initiative. In cumulative terms, our country is the 12^th largest public donor to the Global Fund since its creation, having pledged €100 million for the previous period (2021-2023).