GF/B17/DP16
Approved by the Board on: 29 April 2008
Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria
The Board refers to its decision (GF/B16/DP14) and the decision of the Board of the Roll Back Malaria ("RBM") Partnership at its meeting on 28-29 November 2007 inviting the Global Fund to take on full responsibility to host and manage the Affordable Medicine Facility - malaria ("AMFm").
The Board agrees to have the Secretariat prepare to host and manage the AMFm as a business line within the Global Fund:
- based on the AMFm design and business plan set out in the Secretariat Report to the Policy and Strategy Committee (GF/PSC9/03); and
- subject to final approval at the Eighteenth Board Meeting of a policy framework and implementation plan that incorporates the principles set out in Annex 1 to this Decision Point and offers practical solutions, in consultation with technical partners, to remaining technical issues (including identification of strategies to maximize access to ACTs by the most vulnerable and poorest and ensuring patient safety).
The Board acknowledges the work and recommendations of the RBM Task Force on the AMFm design, as endorsed by the RBM Executive Committee, and joins the RBM Executive Committee in asking the RBM partnership and the AMFm Task Force to continue to contribute to the development of the AMFm and to pursue all options to maximize access (including targeting the poorest through free distribution of ACTs through public and NGO channels).
The Board requests that the Secretariat continue to work with the RBM Partnership, UNITAID, endemic countries, and other relevant stakeholders and develop and present to the Board at its Eighteenth Meeting for decision:
- The policy framework and implementation plan for managing the AMFm, including the calendar for phasing in the AMFm and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) arrangements;
- Recommended arrangements for the ongoing governance of the AMFm;
- A statement of the resources available for launching the initial phase of the AMFm;
- The organizational and budgetary requirements for managing the AMFm in its initial phase of operation; and
- Any required technical changes to the AMFm design and business plan.
To oversee and guide the work by the Secretariat, the Board decides to establish an ad-hoc committee of the Board: the "AMFm Ad-hoc Committee". The ad-hoc committee should include relevant partners, and potential donors, including UNITAID. The Board invites nominations for the members of the AMFm Ad-hoc Committee and requests the submission of nominations to the Board Chair and Vice Chair by no later than May 15, 2008. Membership of the AMFm Ad-hoc Committee shall not apply towards the two-committee limit set out in Section 23 of the Board Operating Procedures.
The Board requests the Finance and Audit Committee to work with the AMFm Ad-hoc Committee to review the AMFm design and business plan with regard to 1) the plan's policy and strategy issues relating to finance, 2) implications for the Fund's budget for Operating Expenses, and 3) the Fund fiscal management policies and processes. This review should particularly consider elements of the plan that would involve the Secretariat entering into contractual arrangements with implementers of the AMFm, any additional risk this may pose to the Fund, and how this plan will fit within the forthcoming risk management framework of the Fund and its model as a financing institution, not an implementing agency.
The Board calls upon the FAC and the PSC, as part of its ongoing work, to provide analysis on elements of the AMFm policy framework, implementation and business plan that may potentially change the Global Fund framework document and bylaws. In particular, the FAC and the PSC should further review how the various tasks induced by the management of the AMFm should be shared between the Global Fund and its partners. The Board notes the need for extensive consultation with Board members on any proposed substantive change to the Fund's Framework Document of Bylaws.