ONE Responds to UK’s £1bn pledge to the Global Fund

London, 14th November: This morning the British Government announced that it will contribute GBP£1billion to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and malaria in support of the fund’s latest replenishment round.

Although this demonstrates Britain’s continuing support for this life-saving organisation, the pledge marks a £400million reduction from the last replenishment in 2019 – and is £800million short of what the Global Fund had requested from the UK government as it seeks to raise a total of USD$18billion (1) in order to save 20 million lives over the next three years (2), accelerate the fight against the three diseases and reverse the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although nearly all of the UK’s G7 partners have significantly increased their pledges to the Global Fund, this reduced pledge from the UK puts 1.5 million more lives at risk, making it harder to end the threat of the three diseases permanently (3).

Romilly Greenhill, UK Director of The ONE Campaign, said:

“Although it represents a significant cut, this billion pound pledge shows that the UK has not left the playing field in the fight against global disease. In the current economic climate, it is a relief to see that the British Government still understands that investing in global health initiatives is the most effective way to protect people at home and around the world from the threat of disease.

“Nonetheless, this reduced commitment to the Global Fund will have a real impact on our ability to tackle AIDS, TB and malaria and will make it harder to finally end the fight against these three killer diseases. This will have devastating consequences for millions of people – so it is vital that Britain gets back on track as soon as possible and resumes the critical leadership role it has played on global health for the past two decades. 

“As we have learned over the past two and a half years, fully funding the fight against disease is in the best interests of every one of us in the UK, as well as our friends and partners around the world. If the government is wise enough to increase defence spending following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it should be prudent enough to invest more in global health in the wake of a worldwide pandemic that cost millions of lives and wiped trillions off the global economy.”

Gayle Smith, CEO and President of The ONE Campaign, said:

“The UK’s decision to cut its support for the Global Fund is crushing – this means lives put at risk and a reduced global impact in the fight to end these three diseases. But it also sends an alarming signal to Britain’s friends and partners around the world about what role the country will play in the efforts to tackle the biggest challenges facing our generation.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

1. According to the Global Fund, the requested 30% increase from donors is required to get the world back on track to end AIDS, TB and malaria, to save 20 million lives, and accelerate progress toward SDG 3 and universal health coverage and strengthen pandemic preparedness. To meet this 30% increase requested by the Global Fund, the United Kingdom would need to pledge £1.8 billion for this replenishment – an increase of £400million from the £1.4 billion which was pledged at the sixth replenishment three years ago.
2. This figure quantifies the impact on the program scale-up in terms of lives saved over 2024-2026, computed by comparing modelled-based trajectories of deaths compared with a “null” counterfactual scenario.
3. ONE’s analysis based these numbers on the Global Fund’s modelled estimates on the impact of every USD $100 million invested through the Global Fund between 2023-2025. Full policy note attached to this press release.

Press contact: Emilia Micunovic: +44 7881 370 524 [email protected]