After decades of progress against the diseases were blocked by the COVID-19 outbreak, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria has been awarded $14.25 billion in critical new financing.
According to US President Joe Biden, who convened the conference in New York City alongside the annual high-level UNGA event, this is the largest amount ever pledged for a worldwide health organisation. The funding is critical for fighting the diseases.
According to Biden, “this expenditure will save an additional 20 million lives and reduce mortality from these diseases by 64% over the next four years.”
The fund, established in 2002 as a public-private collaboration, is seeking $18 billion from governments, civil society, and the private sector for its next three-year funding cycle. Before the conference on Wednesday, it had already raised more than a third of the total.
“What’s happened today is essentially an unprecedented mobilisation of money for global health,” says Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund.
Keep going, “Thank you everybody for stepping up, especially in this terrible global economic environment,” Biden urged.
According to the Global Fund, the $14.25 billion total is certain to rise when additional donations arrive. Italy and the United Kingdom have declared that their assurances will be made at a later date.
Malawi’s president, Lazarus Chakwera, contributed $1 million earlier in the day, saying, “For the government and people of Malawi, this is not a conference, but a life saver.”
Tuberculosis is a “major public health problem in Malawi,” according to USAID, and UNAIDS forecasts that 990,000 adults and children in Malawi will have HIV by 2021.
The United States has made the largest contribution of $6 billion among the contributors.
The European Union, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, the Gates Foundation, and Japan all made significant commitments.
“Tuberculosis is curable. Malaria can be eradicated. These horrible diseases can be cured. The European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, vowed after announcing the bloc’s most recent donation, “we will eradicate AIDS, TB, and malaria – once and for all.”
South Korea boosted its 2019 pledge to $100 million, while Indonesia made its first-ever donation of $10 million.
According to Dr. Sarthak Das, CEO of the Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance, an organisation that brings together the leaders of 22 countries in the region to eradicate malaria, the promises proved that Asia Pacific nations were fighting “for what matters.”
“Not only is this a historic display of worldwide unity, but it also provides a cheering and much-needed boost towards global health equity,” he said in a statement.
