European Union Announces Major Increase to the Global Fund
24 August 2019
BIARRITZ, FRANCE – The Global Fund welcomes the European Union’s renewed commitment to end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and build strong systems for health.
President of the European Council Donald Tusk announced on behalf of the EU a pledge of €550 million for the Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment during the G7 Summit in Biarritz. This represents an increase of 16 percent over their previous contribution.
The pledge signals the EU’s strong leadership in global health and reinforces Europe’s strong commitment to ending the three diseases by 2030.
“The EU has been a strong supporter of the Global Fund since its creation, when the AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis epidemics seemed to be unbeatable,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission. “And today we are announcing a record contribution of a further €550 million. We hope the international community will follow suit and step up the fight to fulfil the Fund's target of ending these diseases' epidemics by 2030.”
The European Union has played a leadership role in decision-making and governance at the Global Fund and has been a strong advocate for building resilient and sustainable systems for health, for addressing special challenges facing women and girls, and for reaching key populations affected by HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.
“The European Union has shown tremendous leadership in making this pledge, which comes at a critical moment in the fight against HIV, TB and malaria,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “We thank the EU for this extraordinary commitment to step up the fight against the three epidemics, saving millions of lives and building the resilient and sustainable systems for health essential to deliver universal health coverage.”
The EU is the sixth-largest donor to the Global Fund. With this pledge, it will have committed more than €2.6 billion since the Global Fund’s inception in 2002. Together with its member states, they represent nearly half of the total funding to the Global Fund.
France will convene the Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment pledging conference on 9-10 October 2019 in Lyon, France. The Global Fund seeks to raise at least US$14 billion for the next three years. The funds will help save 16 million lives, cut the mortality rate from HIV, TB and malaria in half, and build stronger health systems by 2023.