The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria

The Global Fund is the single most powerful tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria — three deadly diseases that collectively claim the lives of more than 3 million people each year. Through innovative partnerships with governments, civil society, the private sector, and affected communities, the Global Fund channels resources to country-driven programs to deliver essential treatment, prevention and care services.  Since 2002, programs supported by the Global Fund have saved an estimated 8.7 million lives.

Unique Attributes of the Global Fund

The Global Fund’s pioneering approach allows resources to be delivered to locally-owned programs in a cost-effective, participatory and accountable manner. Several unique attributes of the Global Fund make this possible:

Performance-based funding: Funding is released incrementally based on demonstrated results against agreed targets (e.g. delivering tangible services such as bed nets or anti-AIDS drugs). The Fund stops, reduces or accelerates grants based on their demonstrated performance against these targets.

Country Ownership: Country-level structures allow recipient nations to design programs and allocate funds in accordance with their national health priorities. Applications and implementation are carried out by local partnerships among governments, health experts, civil society, faith-based organizations and the private sector.

Low Overhead: Exceptionally low overhead costs mean that virtually all funds are delivered to the people who need them. The Fund estimates that 97 cents of every dollar raised goes directly to grants.

Transparency: All proposals, applications, grant agreements and progress reports are published on the Global Fund’s website.

Real Results

Since its establishment, the Global Fund has signed grant agreements worth $22.9 billion across 151 countries. To date, the Global Fund has achieved the following results globally:

• Antiretroviral treatment for 4.2 million people with HIV
• Detection and treatment of 9.7 million TB cases
• 310 million insecticide-treated bed nets to protect families from malaria
• 260 million treatments for people with malaria
• 250 million HIV counseling and testing encounters
• A complete course of ARV prophylaxis to reduce mother-to-child transmission for 1.7 million HIV-positive pregnant women
• Basic care and support for 4.9 million orphans
• Training for 11.3 million health or community workers to deliver services

The Global Fund’s 2012-2016 Strategy: Investing for Impact

The Global Fund aims to build on its first decade of impressive results by outlining new targets as part of its 2012-2016 strategy.  If fully funded and implemented, the Global Fund’s strategy will help save 10 million lives and prevent 140-180 million new infections from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria between 2012 and 2016. These goals are complemented by disease-specific targets aligned with the global targets set by UNAIDS, the World Health Organization, and the Stop TB and Roll Back Malaria partnerships.

To achieve this, the Global Fund will “invest for impact” based on five strategic objectives:

• Invest more strategically in areas with high potential for impact and strong value for money, and fund based on countries’ national strategies;
• Provide funding in a more proactive, flexible, predictable and effective way;
• Actively support grant implementation success through more active grant management and better engagement with partners;
• Promote and protect human rights in the context of the three diseases; and
• Sustains the gains, mobilize resources – by increasing the sustainability of supported programs and attracting additional funding from current and new sources.

Ultimately, if donors, recipients, and the private sector step up their support for the Global Fund in the coming years, the Global Fund will continue to play a leading role in driving toward key global health milestones: the end of malaria deaths, the end of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, the control of TB, and the beginning of the end of AIDS.