January 2019

Jan 31, 2019

Step up the fight!

Dear aidsfocus readers,

The call for the Sixth Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GF) took place in Paris with strong emphasis and support from the French president Macron.  It will now become clear whether the “wake-up call”, which was sounded particularly clearly at the 2018 International AIDS Conference, has fallen on fertile ground or whether the tragic fight for money must start anew and be repeated again and again like a mantra (as something that people don’t actually want to hear any more...). The international community has already long and repeatedly committed itself to providing sufficient funds to bring an end to HIV/AIDS – a pledge that was recently renewed with the SDGs.

While Peter Sands, Director of the Global Fund, is calling for 14 billion USD as the replenishment target, NGOs are concerned that this amount is far below the sum required to accomplish the goals. Critical voices see this amount as the minimum to maintain existing programmes and far from being sufficient to bring the end of AIDS within our grasp. The withdrawal of the GF from “transition countries” is also seen as highly problematic in this regard and civil society organisations are sounding repeated warnings about a resurgence of the epidemic in these regions.

Plea for a New Strategy

This makes a proposal from Richard Horton very timely: a new strategy is required which sees the Global Fund redefining itself and expanding its brief. Horton is calling for an ‘ATM plus’ strategy: AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria plus UHC. This means a GF that, in addition to an increased commitment to fight the three infectious diseases (HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria), champions primary health care and universal health coverage (UHC). For Horton, the future of the organisation is clearly at stake if it fails to achieve this balancing act (see also the 2018 IAS-Lancet Report).

It is obvious that the Global Fund is fighting for its survival. The diminishing funding of PEPFAR by the US government has resulted in less money for the GF. The financial commitment from other countries also leaves much to be desired, not least from Switzerland which – it should be recalled – has reduced its contributions to the Global Fund by 3 million francs. This means the Global Fund is navigating difficult waters. It will continue to seek contact with the private sector and will sometimes (be forced to) enter into questionable partnerships, as the recent example of Heineken showed. To prevent this, governments are called upon more strongly than ever to assume their global responsibilities and to provide reliable finance not only to the GF but to the entire UN and its affiliated organisations with appropriate contributions. We are eagerly anticipating 10 October 2019!

You can also read in our Topic of the Month about how SolidarMed has committed itself to the 90-90-90 UNAIDS strategy and is making significant progress in countries like Mozambique where still only 30% of young people are aware of their HIV status.

Martina Staenke
Communication Manager, Medicus Mundi Switzerland
mstaenke@medicusmundi.ch