Data and technology are powerful tools to meet the goal of ending AIDS, TB and malaria by 2030, while also helping to equalize access to care.
The Global Fund is one of the largest investors in digital health in low- and middle-income countries. We invest more than US$150 million a year to strengthen health and information systems and improve data availability and quality.
The digital health tools and initiatives that the Global Fund supports — including the rollout of digital tools for community health workers, digitizing health data, or supporting healthtech entrepreneurs to adapt their solutions to meet health challenges — are vital to achieve equity in health care delivery and reach communities in the most remote locations.
We also support countries to digitize and integrate national, regional and local health data, which is essential to be able to detect and respond to disease outbreaks rapidly and is the basis of robust, effective health systems.
Investing in digital health also maximizes the impact of every dollar invested to fight AIDS, TB and malaria.
Júlia Lúis is an agente polivalentes elementare, or community health worker, in Upala-a village in Boane District, Mozambique. She visits families in her community every day, listening to and learning about their healthcare needs, conducting clinical assessments, providing health advice – and administering lifesaving medicines.
Technology and innovation are key drivers in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria - strengthening disease surveillance, transforming testing and diagnosis and revolutionizing treatment.
Primary school French teacher Aloys Butoyi has been passionate about educating children since he became a teacher over 20 years ago. Mr. Butoyi teaches at the Excel School in Musanze, Rwanda. Like most teachers, he remembers the COVID-19 pandemic as an incredibly difficult time.
Community health worker Marc Ilboudo often provides care to the very youngest children in his village. Most days, he conducts at-home visits for families living in Pousghin, approximately 30 kilometers northeast of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital city. Other days, patients come directly to his home.
The Global Fund, in collaboration with The Rockefeller Foundation, is supporting efforts to strengthen national health information and surveillance systems through the Data Science Catalytic Fund (DSCF) in Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso.
Maia Chikovani is a busy mother of two boys. She spends her days looking after Luka, 14, and Saba, 12; managing the household; and tending to the animals on their small farm in the village of Bashi in western Georgia. She also works outside the home as a caretaker.
Monitoring the spread of COVID-19 in communities can be challenging. Lockdowns and restrictions mean that fewer people can access health facilities, and fear of contagion can discourage people from seeking out health care even if they have symptoms.
The Global Fund is committed to the use of digital technologies that aid data- driven decision-making out in the field. This is why we partner with technology providers who can bring innovation and cohesion to the many fragmented health-information systems around the world.
In 2018, we joined forces with Zenysis Technologies to advance the use of data in 10 countries fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The partnership illustrates the power of working with technology startups that have solutions aimed at improving health outcomes.
Read the report [ download in English ]
Published: 18 January 2024