This year the world came together to Fight for What Counts – raising a record US$15.7 billion for the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment.
The Fight for What Counts campaign launched in February and culminated at the Seventh Replenishment Pledging Conference, hosted by President Joe Biden in the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York City.
As the year comes to an end, we revisit some of the most memorable events, inspirational people and powerful stories in a historic year for global health.
COVID-19 continued to dominate life in much of the world, with low- and middle-income countries falling behind in the fight against the pandemic. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have invested US$4.4 billion to fight the new pandemic and reinforce systems for health. At the beginning of the year, we highlighted the impact of some of these investments in Ethiopia, Malawi, Peru and Thailand.
The Seventh Replenishment campaign, Fight for What Counts, kicked off at a Health Summit hosted by the presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa. The event featured leaders from the private and public sectors and advocates like peer educator Carolyne from Kenya. Throughout the year the campaign would be used as a rallying call to defeat the three diseases, end health inequity and protect humanity from future pandemics.
In a swift response to the war in Ukraine, the Global Fund approved US$15 million to help maintain essential HIV and TB services. Throughout the year we met people like Yulia from Kharkiv, health workers from Chernihiv and Andrii in Lviv, who despite the deadly conflict, continued to deliver lifesaving HIV and TB services.
On World TB Day we met Asad, who shared his story fighting TB while trying to support his family during the COVID-19 pandemic in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Strong government leadership, Global Fund support and collaboration between civil society and the public and private sectors resulted in Bangladesh accelerating its fight against TB, despite COVID-19’s impact on health systems.
On World Malaria Day we met Krayé, village chief in Ménékré, Côte d’Ivoire. After experiencing the horror of malaria first-hand and seeing the disease’s devastating impact on his community, Krayé transformed his village’s malaria response by engaging community health workers. Over the last five years, the number of malaria deaths in Côte d’Ivoire have been cut in half.
We called on private sector partners – philanthropists, foundations, and corporations – for a step-change in their commitment to ending AIDS, TB and malaria through the Seventh Replenishment campaign. And they responded by pledging a record level of support. Private sector support is vital in the fight against the three diseases. An example of this includes the Data Science Catalytic Fund [ download in English | Français ] , which creates stronger data for better community health.
During Pride Month we met Justin, a human rights advocate from the Philippines who is fighting to protect the rights of the LGBTQI+ community, including the right to health care. The Philippines is one of 20 countries that are part of Breaking Down Barriers, a bold Global Fund initiative aimed at reducing human rights barriers to health services.
This summer we were transported to Tanzania and met Neema, Nasra and other health workers who provide the first line of defense against deadly disease in their communities. There are more than 2 million community health workers in countries where the Global Fund invests, mainly serving rural and hard-to-reach communities.
From a small coastal village in Honduras, we met Suzy, a health worker with 20 years’ experience leading her community’s efforts to eliminate malaria. Despite setbacks due to COVID-19 and two consecutive deadly tropical storms, Honduras continues to expand efforts to beat back the disease.
The 2022 Results Report revealed that over the last two decades, the Global Fund partnership helped save 50 million lives in the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria. The report also revealed that programs working to defeat the three diseases had significantly rebounded after setbacks caused by COVID-19.
In a powerful display of global solidarity, more than 45 countries (including 18 heads of state and government), multilateral partners, private sector companies and civil society and community organizations came together at the United States of America-hosted Seventh Replenishment pledging conference. In total the Fight for What Counts campaign raised a record-breaking US$15.7 billion.
After 18 months of grueling treatment, Meirinda beat multidrug-resistant TB. Today Meirinda is fighting to end HIV and TB in her home country of Indonesia. Following a drop in the number of people identified with TB between 2019 and 2020 in Indonesia, there was a 26% increase the following year – meaning more people were accessing lifesaving treatment.
Growing up in Uganda with the constant threat of malaria motivated Krystal to dedicate her life to fighting the disease. Today she is an entomologist at the Uganda Virus Research Institute and works to develop genetic technology to interrupt transmission of the disease.
On World AIDS Day, Global Fund Executive Director Peter Sands and UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima reminded the world that stark inequalities continue to fuel HIV and AIDS, and that efforts to end both must address these inequalities and also have the potential to help protect humanity against future health threats in their joint op-ed, The Best Way to Prepare for the Next Pandemic Is Not What You Think.
