Updates

TERG: Evaluation of Accelerating the Equitable Deployment of and Access to Innovations

30 November 2022

The Global Fund’s Strategy for 2023-2028 highlights ten key aspects of the Global Fund’s work that will need to change in order to accelerate the pace of implementation if it is to achieve the global health targets of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. One of these aspects is greater focus on accelerating the equitable deployment of and access to innovations – in products, tools and approaches. The Technical Evaluation Reference Group (TERG) evaluated how the Global Fund is performing against this measure, and how its investments complement the work of other global health partners.

Innovation in the context of Global Fund-supported disease programs refers to a product or approach that is considered sufficiently new or improved and contributes (or has the potential to contribute) to better health outcomes, including improvements in equity, as compared to the pre-existing situation in the country.

The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the design, implementation and results, including challenges, of equitable deployment of and access to innovations that have been supported by the Global Fund and other global health actors since 2017; to assess the contribution of some of these innovations to the achievement of selected outcomes and results; to draw lessons learned by identifying factors that facilitate or hinder access to and deployment of innovations; and to develop actionable recommendations to guide investments and implementation, as well as baseline indicators to be used during the 2023-2028 Strategy period.

The evaluation report contained 22 key findings, eight high-level conclusions and seven recommendations. It showed that a number of strategic initiatives and matching fund approaches are showing positive results regarding how demand is shaped, including on non-product innovations, as well as for partner coordination. However, the overall funding model requires further optimization to support the scaling up of innovation. In particular, there are several “strategic levers” to shape country demand which could be better employed. Additionally, there needs to be a clear approach to supporting innovation, especially with regard to how equity in access to innovation should be supported.

The conclusions and recommendations, as well as the TERG position and Secretariat Management Response, can be read in the report below:

  • Thematic Evaluation of Accelerating the Equitable Deployment of and Access to Innovations