Africa needs to take urgent action to deal with the funding crisis of the Global Fund.

by dekokfo399 on 2012-02-22 14:59:48

In November 2011, the Global Fund cancelled Round 11 and stated there would be no new grants available until 2014. According to a report from the Coalition, this news came just as major scientific breakthroughs and signs that real progress had begun to take hold generated the most widespread optimism in the history of the AIDS epidemic. "Now," the report said, "all hopes for entering a new phase in the HIV response are effectively on hold until at least 2014, and progress in many areas may actually be reversed. The impact on individuals and communities will be devastating."

The Coalition's executive director Alvaro Bermejo stated in the report that while the cancellation of Round 11 combined with other measures taken by the Global Fund—such as strict rules for grant renewals—means that the Fund will not be able to support any new HIV, tuberculosis, or malaria services. Furthermore, the report claims that essential programs such as HIV care and support may be interrupted because they are not considered "essential" under the Fund’s Transitional Funding Mechanism (TFM) rules. For the same reason, the report says important advocacy and legal work combating stigma and discrimination enabling people to access services; and social efforts addressing many drivers of the epidemic—as interventions focusing on protecting, educating, and gender equality—“will be left unfinished.”

The Coalition calls on donor countries to honor their existing commitments and increase their contributions so that the Global Fund can have approximately $2 billion available in 2012 to create a new funding opportunity. Specifically, the Coalition says donors must accelerate delivery of their contributions; donors who have not made commitments, particularly G20 countries, should do so; donors should urgently replenish ahead of the International AIDS Conference hosted in July 2012; and donors should consider measures being proposed by several countries such as a financial transaction tax to increase funding sources.

"For donors and other stakeholders to reduce funding for the HIV response during economically difficult times is short-sighted and counterproductive," the report said. "While trillions have been found by governments to bail out reckless financial sectors, donors have left the Global Fund wanting for funds to save millions of lives. The Global Fund is the best mechanism to realize the possibility of a world without AIDS, but it can only do so with sufficient investment."

The funding crisis described in the report will significantly impact individual countries. For example, in Bolivia, prevention activities targeting key populations such as men who have sex with men and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) populations—which are at the center of the country's HIV epidemic—will be disrupted. Additionally, expanding outreach to other populations currently not accessing formal health facilities—such as prisoners, street youth, and indigenous peoples—will be lost. Finally, important surveillance programs providing insights into the HIV epidemic will be canceled.

The Global Fund, which has directly invested in 150 countries and provides two-thirds of all international funding for tuberculosis and malaria services and one-fifth for HIV services, plays an important role linking health systems and social systems; the Fund has been promoting human rights and placing people living with HIV at the heart of national responses and coordination mechanisms. These principles and approaches are embodied in the “universal welcome” new Global Fund strategy for 2012-2016, which aims to save 10 million lives by 2016.

As a result of the funding crisis at the Global Fund, the scale of the global HIV response will be severely affected and important existing services will be reduced or eliminated—unless urgent measures are taken. This is the central idea of a well-written and straightforward report issued by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance on January 24, 2012.

Bilateral donors are urged to step in to fill service gaps.

In the report, the Alliance also stated that the Global Fund must have a more effective financial early warning system to ensure that when donation commitments are not met, alarms can be raised. "We must never again be in a position where lifesaving programs are cancelled or delayed without contingency plans and support for affected countries."

The report, titled "Don't Stop Now: The Impact of Underfunding the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on the HIV Response," is available here on the Alliance's website. This report is based on data from national operations of the Alliance, including in-depth impact studies from five countries: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Sudan, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The Alliance also stated that national governments must invest more in their own HIV responses; and bilateral donors must immediately take steps to fill the critical gaps in HIV services created by the Global Fund funding crisis.

The International HIV/AIDS Alliance said that progress in many areas is in danger of being reversed. "We urgently need donors to complement the Global Fund and national governments to strengthen their HIV/AIDS responses and provide funding, or we risk betraying the most vulnerable in our societies and face a collective responsibility to those affected by HIV worldwide."