© Presidency of the French Republic
Paris, 11 January 2019 - Today, President Emmanuel Macron of France, and Peters Sands, Executive Director of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GF) in the presence of Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of The World Health Organization (WHO) and Minister of Solidarity and Health, Mrs Agnès BUZYN, announced a US$14 billion target to step up the fight against the three diseases. A fully-funded Global Fund would disburse US$850 million for TB annually between 2020 and 2022 to help efforts to reach the United Nations High-Level Meeting (UNHLM) on TB targets.
The funding is expected to be sourced from a range of partners that includes governments, international agencies and the private sector.
"The Stop TB Partnership strongly supports the efforts for a strong GF replenishment because the contributions to the Global Fund are a crucial part of the international investments required to tackle tuberculosis (TB)," said Dr Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of The Stop TB Partnership.
"We were dreaming of at least US$1.6 billion for the fight against TB each year from the Global Fund. However, with the current US$14 billion investment case request, this figure is at US$850 million per year. Governments must now honor the commitments they made when establishing their SDGs as well as at last year’s UNHLM on TB and make sure the Global Fund request is least met and even surpassed. We will do our part to ensure that all commitments made remain on the table and the political agenda. It’s time to deliver."
Since its inception in 2002, investments in The Global Fund have helped to save 27 million lives worldwide. As the world’s deadliest infectious disease, the share of lives to be saved from TB is potentially the largest of any of the three diseases. TB also represents the most cost-effective investment in health, with a return of around 19:1 for TB diagnosis and treatment (click here for background information).
"Governments around the world are now committed to an ambitious goal of diagnosing and successfully treating 40 million people with TB - including 3.5 million children - by 2022. With global TB treatment and care costing US$13 billion each year alone, we urge investment partners to step up and exceed the Global Fund request, plus a 48% increase in domestic funding," said Lucica Ditiu.
The Stop TB Partnership recognizes and appreciates the leadership of the governments of India (host of the Global Fund’s pre-replenishment conference, to be held in New Delhi next month) and France (which will host the Global Fund’s replenishment conference in Lyon in October 2019).