The 2021 results report of the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria has just been published: since its creation in 2002, the Fund has saved 50 million lives!
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria: in 2020, progress in the fight against the three pandemics experienced a decline for the first time in the history of the Fund. But the new results report shows that the investments made to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences on the Fund’s programs have paid off.
Here is the state of the fight against the 3 diseases in 2021:
- HIV/AIDS: 70.9 million HIV tests were taken, 12.5 million people were reached with prevention services and 23.3 million people were placed on antiretroviral therapy (an increase of 6.3% compared to 2020).
- Tuberculosis: while tuberculosis control services were largely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the efforts undertaken by the Global Fund have made it possible to reverse the trends observed in 2020: 395 000 people exposed to TB received TB preventive therapy in 2021, a 12% increase compared to 2020. Overall, 5.2 million people were treated for TB and 1 600 were on treatment for extensively drug-resistant TB.
- Malaria: the efforts undertaken have made it possible to avoid the worst scenario foreseen by the WHO of a doubling of the cases of death due to malaria. In 2021, the Global Fund investments led to the distribution of 133 million mosquito nets. Over 280 million suspected cases of malaria were tested and 12.5 million pregnant women received preventive treatment for malaria.
The Global Fund is a key player in the fight against the three diseases. It provides 30% of international funding for HIV programs, 76% of international funding for TB programs, and 63% of international funding for malaria programs. Since its creation, the Fund has saved 50 million lives, and reduced AIDS deaths by 70%, tuberculosis deaths by 21%, and malaria deaths by 26%.
The Global Fund is also the largest provider of multilateral grants for health systems strengthening. Over the period 2021-2023, it has invested US$4.9 billion in health systems, including community health systems. The Global Fund also invested US$4.4 billion in the fight against Covid and its consequences on the three diseases, enabling programs to adapt quickly, purchase personal protective equipment, diagnostics, and medicines and deploy prevention campaigns.
In a few days, the Global Fund will be hosting its 7th replenishment. This is an unprecedented context, in which human development indicators have declined globally according to the latest UNDP report. Despite the considerable efforts made in 2021, we are still far from achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 3 target for the three pandemics. Conflicts, climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic and other health challenges continue to pose a significant threat to the progress made so far. To protect these gains and save an additional 20 million lives over the next three years, the Global Fund will need at least US$18 billion.
Together with his G7 counterparts, European Commission President Von der Leyen has committed in June to making this conference a success. The United States has already pledged a contribution of US$6 billion if US$12 billion is raised at the conference. Japan and Germany have already announced a 30% increase to their previous contribution.
Once again this year, the EU’s political and financial mobilization will be decisive in achieving the objectives set by the Global Fund. To rise to the challenges and help save 20 million additional lives over the next three years, the EU must do whatever it takes to increase its previous contribution to the Global Fund by at least 30%.
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