The Global Fund has announced that its 7th Replenishment Conference, hosted in New York today by President Biden, has raised a total of US$14.5bn.
The total pledged so far is a record-breaking amount for the Global Fund Replenishment and shows the commitment of leaders around the world to advance health equity for all.
Thank you to all the countries who stepped up their pledges in economically challenging times and answered the Global Fund's call to put us back on track to ending malaria, AIDS and TB, some of the world's biggest killers. These diseases hold us back, limiting lives and opportunities and weakening our world's health security in the face of future pandemic threats.
In hosting the replenishment and pledging $6bn, President Biden and the US government showed outstanding leadership.
However, the investments announced so far fall short of the Global Fund’s US$18bn target for its next three-year funding cycle. Missing the target will leave millions of lives at risk and our progress against these diseases in danger.
"There is now a short window when governments can step up – every dollar really does count."
As the Global Fund is one of the leading sources of malaria funding worldwide, this shortfall is concerning.
Today the malaria fight is at a crucial point. 627,000 lives were lost to the disease in 2020, the highest in a decade, as well as an increase of 69,000 deaths – partly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of stagnated funding, population growth, humanitarian emergencies, as well as the growing threats of drug and insecticide resistance has further impacted our ability to make progress.
What is the Global Fund?
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria mobilizes and invests funding in malaria programme financing across 94 countries, providing a leading source of malaria funding worldwide.
It is estimated that if a fully replenished Fund was achieved, it would:
- Reduce malaria cases by 66%, from 239 million in 2020 to 81 million in 2026
- Increase coverage of insecticide treated nets in Africa from 43% in 2020 to 52% by 2026
- Treat 550 million malaria cases through public sector systems between 2021 and 2026
- Eliminate malaria from an additional six countries by 2026
Dr Corine Karema, Interim CEO of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, commented:
"We commend the United States government for its leadership, and all the donors who have contributed to today’s record-breaking replenishment – this money will help save thousands of lives from malaria.
However we are concerned that the total pledged today is not yet at the target for what the Global Fund needs and to get the malaria fight back on track. This funding is vital not just to provide life-saving programmes for malaria but to build health system resilience more generally and help protect us all from future pandemics. It’s important to remember the US government is only able to donate up to a third of the total pledged – so any shortfall in the overall pledged means a shortfall in US funding too, effectively leaving money unspent on the table.
We implore governments who haven’t pledged or pledged less than needed to reconsider their position. There is now a short window when governments can step up – every dollar really does count."