The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will hold a pledging conference in New York on Wednesday, where it aims to raise at least $18 billion during an event hosted by US President Joe Biden.
It is the highest “replenishment” target the organization has ever set and stands amid mounting economic pressures – on both donor countries and recipients – following the Covid-19 pandemic and the food-related problems caused by the Ukraine conflict – and energy crises.
But spokeswoman Francoise Vanni told AFP she was encouraged by recent pledges – most recently including €1.3 billion from Germany, followed by $6 billion from the United States and $1.08 billion from Japan. which would have brought the fund “about half” of its target.
“The stakes are high and the $18 billion goal is very heavily based on getting back on track to end AIDS, TB and malaria by 2030, catching up on lost ground during the Covid pandemic and save no less than 20 million lives over the next three years,” she said.
“Everything is still in play and no decision has been made until it is made… But we already have very strong commitments in the bag.”
The amount is 30 percent higher than the organization’s sixth and most recent fundraiser, hosted by President Emmanuel Macron of France in 2019, which raised a then-record $14 billion.
Established in 2002, the Global Fund brings together governments, multilateral organizations, bilateral partners, civil society groups and the private sector to fight the three killer diseases, with new funding cycles typically occurring every three years.
Vanni said she hoped donors would look at the fund’s track record – last week he revealed he had helped save 50 million lives over the past 20 years.
Additionally, “countries around the world are realizing that no one is safe until everyone is safe. We said that during Covid-19 and we cannot lose that momentum.”
– Signs of Recovery –
Last year, the Global Fund warned that the pandemic was having a “devastating” impact on its work, leading to overall declining results for the first time in the fund’s history.
But it said last week that the massive resources it had pumped out to counter the downturn had paid off and the “recovery is underway” against all three diseases.
For example, the number of people dying from TB rose for the first time in a decade in 2020 when it caused an estimated 1.5 million deaths, making it the world’s second-biggest killer of infectious diseases after Covid.
But the Global Fund, which provides 76 percent of all international funding to fight TB, said programs have shown signs of recovery over the past year.
Similarly, the number of people reached with HIV prevention services rose again after a decline in 2020, reaching 12.5 million people worldwide, it said. The fund provides nearly a third of all international funding to fight HIV.
Under an act of Congress, the United States can provide no more than one-third of the Global Fund’s appropriations — a limit that serves as a convenient challenge for other nations to double the American pledge.
