The Global Fund is fully committed to the premise that countries must be self-reliant in financing and managing HIV, TB and malaria programs over time. Working hand in hand with countries, the Global Fund prioritizes planned, predictable transitions.
The Global Fund defines transition as the mechanism by which a country, or a country component, moves towards fully funding and implementing its HIV, TB and malaria programs independent of Global Fund support. A successful transition is one in which previous gains against HIV, TB and malaria are maintained and scaled up, as appropriate, even after external support has come to an end.
The Global Fund’s approach to transition has evolved over time, alongside its funding model, policies, and its approach to eligibility, sustainability, and transition. Since the founding of the Global Fund, 52 disease components (HIV, TB and malaria) across 38 countries have transitioned. In the current grant cycle (GC7), 12 disease components from eight countries are transitioning, the largest cohort in a single grant cycle since the approval of the STC policy in 2016. While the majority of the transitions have been precipitated by changes in eligibility, there have also been examples of voluntary transitions. Transitioned disease components may also be included in multicountry or regional grants, in line with the Global Fund’s eligibility policy.
Disease components fully transition from Global Fund support when they are no longer eligible for funding, voluntarily transition, and/or have received their final allocation. Preparations for transition may also be affected by changes in the size of Global Fund allocations and/or the investments of other funding partners, which may require countries to progressively assume key parts of the national response well before they stop receiving Global Fund financing. For this reason, the Global Fund encourages countries to plan well in advance of expected transitions.
Lessons learned suggest that successful transitions take time and require resources. Early and proactive planning is a key part of transition preparedness. The Global Fund supports countries to incorporate transition considerations into funding request development, grant design, grant implementation, national planning processes – including, where relevant, transition planning and assessments – and the overall management of national responses.
The Global Fund proactively supports countries to undertake transition planning, and may provide transition funding to countries who become ineligible in order to help smooth the transition from Global Fund support. The Global Fund may also set transition timelines for eligible countries to ensure predictability in our funding. The Global Fund regularly publishes a list [ download in English ] of the disease components projected to transition from Global Fund support due to potential income classification changes, which is updated on an annual basis.