The Global Fund’s 44th Board meeting was held virtually over two days, 11-12 November. With pre-sessions held in the days ahead of the meeting. The Implementers group met on the 9th of November and pre-Board briefings on the 10th. This report intends to share short notes on key areas of the discussions that we think are of interest and represents the GFAN Secretariat’s experience and interpretation of the meeting and should not be considered an official or authorized accounting of events and positioning.

Source:  The Lancet

“COVID-19 has the potential to cause substantial disruptions to health services, due to cases overburdening the health system or response measures limiting usual programmatic activities. We aimed to quantify the extent to which disruptions to services for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria in low-income and middle-income countries with high burdens of these diseases could lead to additional loss of life over the next 5 years.”

Publisher:  GCTA

“The concept of a human rights-based response to tuberculosis (TB) is relatively new. The century-old, medicalized approach to TB did not consider the rights of the individual in planning the response. . . . With this Brief, we hope that policymakers, national TB program implementers, and communities affected by TB can come together to plan and implement interventions that uphold the dignity and human rights of all people affected by TB.”

 

Publisher: The Global Fund

“The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to reverse the extraordinary gains made by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria partnership in the fight against the three epidemics. In 2020 we will likely see increases in deaths and new infections across all three diseases for the first time in many years as health and community systems are overwhelmed, treatment and
prevention programs are disrupted, and resources are diverted. In many of the countries most heavily affected by HIV, TB and malaria, the knock-on impact of COVID-19 on these three diseases in terms of incremental deaths may outweigh the direct impact of the virus. “

 

Publisher: GFAN

GFAN’s report on the 43rd Global Fund Board Meeting held virtually in May 2020.

Publisher:  The Global Fund

“The Community, Rights and Gender Strategic Initiative (CRG SI) is a three-year $15-million catalytic investment, aimed at strengthening the meaningful engagement of civil society and communities in Global Fund-related processes. It works through three mutually reinforcing components: (1) A short-term technical assistance program, (2) long-term capacity strengthening of key and vulnerable population networks and organizations, and (3) six regional communication and coordination platforms.”

Publisher:  SADC 

 

“2019 marked 10 years since the historic declaration in 2009 by Eight (8) Ministers of Health to establish the Malaria Elimination 8 regional initiative under the auspice of the Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC). The mandate was clear; to draw down cases and deaths caused by malaria to zero in each member state, while addressing cross border transmission across
shared borders. This strategy was most important, requiring synchronization of interventions between common borders, and consistent dialogue between neighbouring countries, to ensure policies are in place to achieve elimination.”

Publisher:  StopAIDS, CSSN, PITCH, AIDSFONDS, Frontline AIDS, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands)

 

A civil society discussion paper on key trends and principles for evolution.

“The aim of this paper is to serve as a catalyst for discussion within civil society on how, drawing on lessons from the global HIV response, the global health architecture of the Universal  Health Coverage (UHC) era should evolve and how it should be governed so that it best addresses the interests of end-users. The paper celebrates the growing momentum of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UHC movements and situates itself within the larger discourse around health, HIV, development, and aid. With a focus on what we call the ‘global health
architecture’, we consider top-line political trends affecting global health and suggest key principles to consider as the architecture adapts to a changing world. “

 

 

 

This document presents the findings, conclusions and recommendations of a Mid-Term Review (MTR) of Phase 2 of the New Venture Fund for Global Fund Advocacy (NVF for GFA) grant portfolio.  The phase 2 grants address on-going resource mobilisation and advocacy around the Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund). The MTR analyses and makes recommendations on the strengths and weaknesses of the strategies, interventions and processes of the grant, namely: the grant making process; network facilitation; and advocacy work.  The work of the sub-grantees is showcased throughout the report in various case studies.

Source:  International Civil Society Support (ICSS)

 

Publisher:  Treatment Action Group (TAG)

“Tuberculosis (TB) is the number one killer of people living with HIV/AIDS, causing one in three of all AIDS-related deaths. Yet, unlike HIV, TB is curable: each one of these 250,000 deaths annually is preventable. All people living with HIV should be screened for TB, yet many countries do not report screening for TB in this vulnerable population.”