Updates
Global Fund Approves Emergency Funding to Maintain TB and HIV Services in Crisis-Affected Lebanon and Iraq
GENEVA – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) has approved US$1.48 million in emergency funding to help sustain essential tuberculosis (TB) and HIV services in Lebanon and Iraq, where the regional humanitarian crisis has severely disrupted access to healthcare.
The emergency funding, which will run from 1 July 2026 through 30 June 2027, will help sustain TB and HIV services by supporting diagnostics, laboratory capacity, sputum transport systems and mobile clinics, as well as TB screening, treatment and DOT (Directly Observed Therapy). It will also help procure TB and drug-resistant TB medicines, expand community-based TB/HIV outreach and provide nutritional support for patients in crisis-affected areas.
These interventions will be implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in collaboration with national health authorities, the World Health Organization and civil society partners.
Since early 2026, intensifying conflict across the Middle East has reaggravated a severe regional humanitarian crisis with acute impacts in Lebanon and Iraq, and spillover effects in neighboring countries. Massive displacement – now exceeding 15 million people – along with damaged health infrastructure and access constraints has disrupted HIV, TB and malaria case detection, treatment continuity and prevention efforts.
In Lebanon, renewed hostilities in 2026 have displaced over 1 million people, many living in overcrowded temporary shelters where the risk of communicable diseases – particularly TB – is high. Damage to 15 hospitals, the closure of six hospitals and 46 primary healthcare centers, and the ongoing economic crisis have further weakened an already fragile health system. These conditions have severely disrupted access to TB and HIV services, especially for displaced and high risk populations.
Iraq continues to face a protracted humanitarian crisis, hosting nearly 1 million internally displaced persons, 350,000 refugees and 370,000 migrants from across the region. While these pressures predate the current crisis, the escalation in the region since early 2026 has intensified population movements, strained supply chains and limited access to healthcare. These conditions heighten the risk of TB transmission, delayed diagnosis and treatment interruption, particularly among high risk and hard to reach groups, including detainees.
Established in 2014, the Global Fund’s Emergency Fund provides rapid and flexible financing to ensure the continuity of programs and services for HIV, TB and malaria during crises.
Between 2014 and December 2024, the Global Fund committed more than US$149 million through the Emergency Fund to support countries affected by conflict, environmental disasters and other acute crises.