Global Fund-supported programs see strong results amid funding challenges
30 November 2011
GENEVA – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today announced that countries that benefit from its support are putting more people on life-saving AIDS treatment and preventing more babies from being born with HIV than ever before amid severe funding constraints stemming from the economic crisis.
The Global Fund’s Executive Director, Professor Michel Kazatchkine appealed to donors to increase funding, saying that while the latest results showed that programs supported by the Global Fund were delivering remarkable results, far more could be achieved with additional resources.
“Millions of people in poor countries are relying on the Global Fund to stay alive and healthy so that they can lead normal, productive lives,” said Professor Kazatchkine. “But millions of others may not be reached by treatment because we lack the financial resources further to expand health programs on the scale that is required.”
“The poor and the vulnerable must not be made to pay the price for the global financial crisis.”
The Global Fund also published results today showing that the number of mothers receiving drugs to prevent them from transmitting HIV to their babies in countries which benefit from Global Fund support rose 30 per cent to 1.3 million from 1.0 million in December 2010.
Pregnant women who are HIV-positive receive a complete course of antiretroviral (ARV) prophylaxis under the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) programs backed by the Global Fund.
The number of HIV testing and counseling sessions provided under Global Fund-supported programs rose 27 per cent from 150 million to 190 million in the same period while the number of people receiving life-saving antiretroviral treatment rose 10 per cent in the past year to 3.3 million from 3 million.
With approved funding of $22.6 billion, the Global Fund supports around half of all patients receiving HIV treatment in poor countries, as well as providing two-thirds of international funding to fight tuberculosis and malaria.
The Global Fund estimates that it will disburse about US$ 9.5 to $10 billion to programs it supports in the period 2011-2013. Most of these resources will cover programs in 140 countries that have already been approved.
The Global Fund announced last week that it will not be in a position to fund additional new grants that would allow a further expansion of its health programs between now and the end of 2013, unless all pledged resources are paid to the Fund during that period. However, the Fund will ensure that essential treatment and services, covered by grants that expire before that time in countries in need, continue to receive funding.
A sharply deteriorating economic situation, which is placing severe pressure on donor countries’ budgets, has prompted the Global Fund to revise its forecasts of available resources over the next two years and to take this difficult decision.
Global Fund programs have made big strides in the past year in fighting malaria. Some 230 million bed nets have been handed out since 2003 to protect families from malaria under programs backed by the Global Fund. Distribution of 70 million bed nets was reported in the past 12 months alone, contributing to an increase of 43 per cent in the total number since December 2010.
As well as the big expansion in coverage of bed nets to prevent malaria, there has also been an increase of more than one-third in the indoor residual spraying of homes with insecticides to 43 million in the last year from 31 million in the previous 12 months.
The number of malaria cases treated with effective anti-malaria drugs also jumped by more than a third to 230 million cases from 170 million.
The number of tuberculosis cases detected and treated rose to 8.6 million from 7.7 million cases in the year to December 2011.
“These results show what can be achieved in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria with sustained efforts. Now is not the time to abandon millions of people who are still in need,” said Professor Kazatchkine.