UNITAID

UNITAID is an international drug purchase facility, established to provide long-term, sustainable and predictable funding to increase access and reduce prices of quality drugs and diagnostics for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in developing countries.

Access to quality drugs remains a major problem for many patients in many Global Fund partner countries and thus represents a serious obstacle in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Effective drugs are costly and often unavailable while quality and effectiveness of accessible drugs are often questionable.

To overcome these obstacles UNITAID and the Global Fund join their efforts and work together in a number of partnerships:

• Initiative to scale-up treatment for multidrugresistent tuberculosis (MDR-TB): 

In addition to scaling-up treatment for MDR-TB the initiative aims to increase the affordability of second-line anti-TB drugs.

• Initiative to scale-up effective malaria treatment:  

The initiative aims to scale up malaria treatment with Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT) which is by far more effective than traditional therapies has been. It aims to increase the affordability of ACTs.

• UNITAID Support to Global Fund Round 6, Phase 1:  

The support is aimed at increasing the number of patients accessing and receiving treatment under three treatment niches: HIV/AIDS (2nd line and paediatric ARV), MDR-TB and malaria (ACTs).

The Global Fund and UNITAID combine their financial and institutional capacities to improve procurement, pricing and availability of medicines and diagnostics. Like cogwheels in a clockwork both organizations have distinct and specific yet complementary roles to play to reach their common aim.

Especially in the face of the recent financial crisis and economic downturn in many parts of the world result oriented collaboration, the search and expansion of innovative sources of funding as well as the targeted and effective investment of these funds are crucial.