Tanzania and Global Fund Launch New Grants to Accelerate Progress Against HIV, TB and Malaria
30 January 2024
DODOMA – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund), the government of Tanzania and health partners launched today the implementation of four new grants worth over US$602.8 million to sustain progress against AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria while strengthening health and community systems across the country over the 2024-2026 period. These grants will contribute to achieving universal health coverage and reaching the 2030 targets for Sustainable Development Goal 3 on health and well-being for all set by the United Nations.
The HIV grant intends to provide uninterrupted treatment to 1.7 million people living with HIV, significantly reduce new HIV infections and mother-to-child transmission, scale up the management of advanced HIV disease, and expand the screening and treatment of noncommunicable diseases among people living with HIV. The TB grant aims to reduce the tuberculosis incidence rate by 50% and the number of tuberculosis deaths by 75% by 2025 (compared to 2015). The malaria grant targets a further reduction of the average malaria prevalence in children under 5, and a reduction of malaria transmission from the annual parasite incidence to less than 30 per 1,000 in 2025. These grants will strengthen community systems through support for community engagement while also reinforcing Tanzania’s systems for health, with embedded investments in laboratories; health products management systems; storage capacities; and human resources, including community health workers.
The two Principal Recipients, the Ministry of Finance of Tanzania and the non-profit Tanzanian public health organization Management and Development for Health (MDH), will implement the grants with the support and engagement of the communities most affected by the three diseases.
The new grants were signed during a ceremony that was presided over by the Minister of Finance Hon. Dr. Mwigulu Nchemba and accompanied by the Minister of Health Hon. Ummy Mwalimu. Also in attendance were the permanent secretaries of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministries of Finance and Health, the President's Office, Regional Administration and Local Government, the Tanzania National Coordinating Mechanism Chair and Vice-Chair, the Ministry of Community, Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, the Vice-Chair of the Tanzania National Coordinating Mechanism and civil society organization representatives, partners for global health development and representatives from the Global Fund.
Hon. Dr. Mwigulu Nchemba, Minister of Finance of the Republic of Tanzania, said: "The strong partnership between Tanzania and the Global Fund has been a driving force behind the positive changes in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in the country. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our partners to achieve the ambitious targets of the new grants and ultimately end the three diseases as public health threats.”
Hon. Ummy Mwalimu, Minister of Health of the Republic of Tanzania, said: “The programs we are officially launching today offer a unique opportunity for Tanzania to save more lives and accelerate the fight against HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. With less than six years left to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, we are more committed than ever to defeating the three diseases and continuing to strengthen health and community systems. Today is also our moment to celebrate the major progress that Tanzania has made in health over the last two decades with the support of the Global Fund partnership. This collective achievement is a true demonstration of global solidarity.”
Linden Morrison, Head of the High Impact Africa 2 Department at the Global Fund, said: “Tanzania has been a key partner of the Global Fund over the years, achieving significant progress against HIV, TB and malaria while building resilient and sustainable systems for health. The grants signed today reflect the government and people of Tanzania’s strong and renewed commitment towards ending the three diseases. These new investments will have a remarkable impact in the push to end the three diseases by 2030 and will be implemented in synergy with investments for pandemic preparedness and response.”
The new grants come on top of US$49 million in funds from the COVID-19 Response Mechanism (C19RM), which focus on supporting health systems strengthening and pandemic preparedness in the country until 2025. This funding includes investments in community systems and community health workers; supply chain; laboratories; surveillance; data systems; and medical oxygen, namely through the procurement of 25 pressure swing adsorption plants.
Tanzania has made remarkable progress in its fight against HIV, TB and malaria. Between 2002 and 2020, with support of donors and partners, HIV incidence in Tanzania fell by 68%, from 395 infections per 100,000 people to 126. The country has undertaken an impressive national expansion of antiretroviral therapy, which saw the percentage of people enrolled in treatment surge from 18% in 2010 to 94% in 2022. In 2023, Tanzania demonstrated progress towards the attainment of the “95-95-95” targets. The HIV treatment cascade stood at 82-97-94 in adults aged 15 years and older. On the TB front, Tanzania was 1 of only 7 high TB burden and global TB watchlist countries estimated to have achieved the World Health Organization’s End TB Strategy 2020 milestone of a 35% reduction in the absolute number of TB deaths between 2015 and 2020. Case notifications have increased, and TB incidence more than halved between 2000 and 2019. Tanzania has also stepped up the fight against malaria through investments in the robust stratified malaria strategy targeting malaria prevention, treatment and support interventions in line with malaria burden, which has resulted in the country nearly halving the mortality of children under 5. The number of confirmed malaria cases declined by 1 million between 2015 and 2019.