This is a record amount which is nevertheless disappointing. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said on Wednesday it had raised $14.2 billion, still below the $18 billion target it had set as part of its goal to end these deadly diseases by 2030.
“What we have seen today is an unprecedented mobilization for global health,” said Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund, in New York. “We are talking about 14.2 billion US dollars, without two of the largest donors to the Fund, whose pledges we expect in due course,” he added, referring to Italy and the United Kingdom.
“Some count their pennies, some count the dead”
In the end, “we will surely be around 16 billion, that will not be the objective set”, calculated the president of the French association Aides, Camille Spire, present in New York. “On the ground, this will mean fewer screening campaigns, less treatment, less funding for community health centers than was hoped for,” she explained, saying she was “angry”. “While some count their pennies, some count the dead”, she added, stressing that “every year 650,000 people die of AIDS”.
The event was held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, in the presence of several heads of state and government. Some countries had recently made encouraging promises – including 1.3 billion from Germany, after 6 billion from the United States and 1.08 billion from Japan. France gave 1.6 billion.
The Global Fund was established in 2002 and brings together governments, multilateral agencies, civil society groups and the private sector to fight these three killer diseases, with funding cycles typically over three years.
A record already in 2019
The total of 18 billion requested represented 30% more than what was raised during the last “replenishment of resources” conference, held in 2019 in France, during which 14 billion had been raised, then already a record. The Global Fund provides 76% of international financing against tuberculosis and a third of the means committed worldwide against AIDS.
The number of people dying from tuberculosis rose in 2020 for the first time in a decade, with 1.5 million dead, making it the second deadliest infectious disease in the world, behind Covid-19. In the same year, the number of HIV-positive people receiving antiretroviral treatment increased by 9%. But signs of “recovery” are observed, according to the Fund, thanks to the massively committed resources.