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Global Fund Commends Germany’s Outstanding Leadership in Global Health

08 September 2022

GENEVA – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria praises Germany for its extraordinary leadership in global health with an early pledge announcement of €1.3 billion to help the world get back on track to end the three diseases by 2030, reduce health inequities, and build stronger systems for health that will reinforce pandemic preparedness.

Development Minister Svenja Schulze announced Germany’s commitment of €1.3 billion to the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment at the international conference Get back on track! held in Berlin. The conference highlighted the devasting impact of COVID-19, but also the critical role the Global Fund played in working with and supporting communities and partners to adapt and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes support to Ukraine and other challenging operating environments that now represent a third of the Global Fund’s investments.

"In our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made quite a bit of progress over the last few months and years thanks to our joint determined action,” said Development Minister Svenja Schulze. “However, the notorious epidemics of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis still continue. Every year, these diseases infect and kill countless people. The good news is that there are ways of treating and preventing the diseases. We can end these epidemics if we act in solidarity. And that is precisely what we have committed to do. The Global Fund has been successful in its fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and with our support it will be able to save millions of lives."

Germany’s major pledge represents a 30% increase compared to the previous three-year period, reflecting the increased needs to regain the ground lost through COVID-19, and is in line with the ambition of the Global Fund’s 2023-2028 Strategy. This outstanding commitment will contribute to shifting towards more integrated and people-centered approaches, advancing health equity, gender equality and human rights, while enabling stronger pandemic preparedness and response.

“COVID-19 clearly demonstrated that strong and inclusive systems for health are at the heart of resilient societies,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “With this 30% pledge increase, the German government is truly demonstrating its leadership in ending AIDS, TB and malaria as public health threats by 2030, while building stronger and more resilient systems for health that enable countries to be better prepared for current and future pandemics. We are extremely grateful to Development Minister Schulze for her strong commitment and to the people of Germany for this steadfast support to reduce health inequities and improve pandemic preparedness and response."

Since the establishment of the Global Fund in 2002, Germany has been a strong partner of the Global Fund and is its fourth largest public donor, helping the partnership to save more than 44 million lives over the past 20 years and to invest US$1.5 billion per year to build more resilient and sustainable systems for health. Within the framework of its G7 presidency and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Germany has been a champion of global health strengthening, including pandemic preparedness and response, as well as progress towards an equitable world.

The Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment Conference, hosted by President Joe Biden on behalf of the United States government, will take place at the UN General Assembly in New York on 19 September and aims to raise at least US$18 billion to fund its next three-year cycle of grants. The Global Fund estimates that the funding of US$18 billion would save 20 million lives, cut HIV, tuberculosis and malaria deaths by 64%, and strengthen health and community systems to reinforce pandemic preparedness.