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Commenting on the replenishment conference for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Lyon today (October 10), Development Minister Gerd Müller said:

“The Global Fund is doing great work fighting AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Since it was established in 2002, it has saved the lives of 32 million people. In the countries where the Global Fund is operating the number of deaths from these diseases each year has been reduced by one third. That is very encouraging and its shows that the battle against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria can be won. We have the knowledge and the measures to do that. However, all must do their part.

Over the next few years the Global Fund wants, among other things, to prevent more than 200 million new HIV infections. That is why we are increasing our support for the Global Fund to a total of 1 billion Euro for the period from 2020 to 2022.

By doing that, Germany is shouldering international responsibility. Other countries are likewise expanding their involvement and it is also pleasing to note that our partner countries are providing more than half of the funds themselves. But they are not yet able to wage the battle against these three diseases without help.

This is because, despite all that has been achieved, there is still a great deal to be done. There are still 1.7 million new HIV infections every year. Young women and girls are the worst affected. Even now, every two minutes a child dies from malaria. Here, too, it is the weakest who face the highest risk. That is why German funding for global health is a smart investment. Only someone who is healthy can go to school, start training for a job and play a part in their country's development.”

As the Global Fund's fourth-biggest donor, Germany is committed to lobbying in the governing board and in the strategy committee for increased efforts to strengthen the health systems in our partner countries. More than one billion US dollars from the 14 billion US dollars that the Global Fund hopes to raise at the replenishment conference is to be earmarked each year for measures to strengthen health systems.

Commenting on this plan, Minister Müller said: “In order to safeguard achievements in a sustainable way, we need strong health systems with functioning health facilities, well-trained health personnel and reliable supply chains for medicines. That is why I am pleased that the Global Fund is now doing even more to support health systems.”

Further information

The partner countries of the Global Fund had achieved the following outcomes up to the end of 2018:

HIV / AIDS: Just under 19 million people have access to HIV treatment. Since 2005, the number of AIDS-related deaths has more than halved and the number of new HIV infections fell by about 40 percent between 2000 and 2018.

Tuberculosis: Just under 28 million people have tested positive and been treated for tuberculosis since 2002. The number of deaths fell by over 20 percent between 2000 and 2017.

Malaria: More than 1 billion mosquito nets to prevent malaria have been distributed since 2002 and more than 880 million people have been treated. The number of deaths due to malaria fell by over 45 percent between 2000 and 2017.

For the current replenishment period from 2020 to 2022, the Global Fund is aiming to raise at least 14 billion US dollars. The funds are to be used, among other things, to prevent some 230 million new infections with HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, and to save another 16 million lives. Numerous donors have increased their contributions and announced the increases prior to the replenishment conference in Lyon. Chancellor Angela Merkel, for example, made her announcement at the G7 summit in Biarritz. The German funding comes from the budget of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation BMZ.

It is envisaged that the partner countries will use their own funds in the health sector to cover the greatest part of the costs for fighting these three diseases. This would be a significant increase compared to the previous funding period of 2017 to 2019.

©BMZ