Open letter to the Hosts of the Second COVID-19 Summit

May 2022

Civil Society wants a more equitable and transparent pandemic preparedness and response, and wants to see the Global Fund, uniquely placed to scale up the investments required for pandemic preparedness and with a long record of impact, transparency and commitment to leaving no one behind. 

Building on the momentum created after the first COVID-19 Summit in September 2021 the United States is convening a second COVID-19 Summit in May 2022, co-hosted by Belize, Germany, Indonesia and Senegal.

This second summit takes place as the world still grapples with the impact of the pandemic. The shifting of resources towards fighting COVID-19 and the pandemic’s impact on health systems since 2020 has also led to increases in infections and deaths from other diseases, in particular HIV, TB and Malaria. The world needs to adapt, to build the foundations to a renewed pandemic preparedness and response architecture and make ambitious commitments for its funding. We need to ensure that the COVID-19 response benefits the fight against others diseases and the strengthening of national health systems. The continuing emergence of new variants and the ongoing gap in access to COVID-19 tools like vaccines, and importantly also diagnostics, protective equipment and treatments alongside drops in testing levels globally is, paradoxically, allowing the pandemic to continue destroying lives and damaging livelihoods just as we finally have many of the tools we need to end COVID-19.

We continue to support increased efforts and investments in both the urgent needs to end the pandemic globally and building the capacities to respond to any future pandemics. We believe that the on-going challenges of the COVID-19 response and pandemic preparedness will be best met by institutions with a record of successful global investment in health systems. While not the only actor, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is well-situated to scale up the investments required for pandemic preparedness. The Global Fund has become since its creation the largest multilateral funding mechanism for global health. It has proven agile and capable to rapidly scale up its operations to meet the challenges of pandemic control – and it is time to replenish the Fund so that it can put progress on AIDS, TB and malaria back on track and extend resilience against pandemics.

The course taken by the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced what we in the Global Fund community have known for years: that pandemic response can only succeed if it is equitable, committed to the respect of human-rights, and inclusive in its governance. The Global Fund has significant experience and expertise to be able to deliver on this vision, both to respond to the infectious disease pandemics we have and to be ready for any future pandemics. In order to do so, it must be properly funded.

Therefore, the undersigned Civil Society and Health Advocates call on the governments of the United States, Belize, Germany, Indonesia, and Senegal as co-hosts of the upcoming Second COVID-19 World Summit, to:

  1. Ensure that discussions meaningfully involve civil society and affected communities;
  2. Consider channeling significant resources committed to pandemic preparedness and response through existing institutions like the Global Fund with a proven track record of impact rather than focusing scarce resources to a newly-formed entity;
  3. Highlight the critical importance of meeting the challenge of the 7th Replenishment of the Global Fund to raise at least $18 billion in September 2022 to ensure that the gains made over the last 20 years of impact are not reversed because of a lack of political commitment to meet existing and future health challenges.

 

Read the full letter here.

Add your organization to the signatories to the open letter here.

Signed by:

  1. Action against AIDS Germany
  2. Action against NCDs in Eswatini
  3. Action Santé Mondiale / Global Health Advocates
  4. Africa Japan Forum
  5. Aidsfonds
  6. Association For Promotion Sustainable development
  7. Association des Victorieux de la Tuberculose Ultra-Résistante (AVTUR)
  8. Civil Society For Malaria Elimination (CS4ME)
  9. DCenturyvibes Global International Foundation
  10. Eastern Africa National Networks of AIDS and Health Services Organization (EANNASO)
  11. Frontline AIDS
  12. Global Fund Advocates Network Africa
  13. Global Fund Advocates Network
  14. Global Fund Advocates Network Asia-Pacific
  15. Good Health Community Programmes
  16. Harm Reduction International
  17. Impact Santé Afrique
  18. LHL International Tuberculosis Foundation
  19. Results Canada
  20. Results U.S.
  21. Results U.K.
  22. SAF-TESO
  23. Stop TB Canada
  24. STOPAIDS
  25. Vision makers
  26. WACI Health
  27. Wote Youth Developoment Projects