WHO and Global Fund sign 3-year umbrella agreement
GENEVA – WHO and the Global Fund signed cooperation and financing agreements amounting to an estimated US$50 million today, with the aim of providing vital technical support to countries to fight HIV, TB and malaria, and securing additional progress toward universal health coverage.
Specifically the agreements will underwrite WHO’s work with countries to increase access to pre-qualified medicines and other health products, develop and implement new funding applications, help find missing TB cases, improve data collection, accelerate action toward malaria elimination in 21 countries and introduce the RTS,S malaria vaccine in three African countries.
“WHO and the Global Fund share a common mission and commitment to serve countries. These new agreements extend our close collaboration further,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. “Partnerships will continue to be critical for achieving the mission of WHO. We cannot do it alone, and rely on partners like the Global Fund to promote health – keep the world safe – and serve the vulnerable.”
WHO and the Global Fund have a long and successful partnership working together to expand HIV, TB and malaria interventions and strengthen health systems in many countries. This collaborative effort has resulted in significant reductions in the disease burdens of HIV, TB and malaria worldwide, saving millions of lives since 2002.
“Partnership is part of the Global Fund’s DNA, and together WHO and the Global Fund are a powerful force for global health,” said Marijke Wijnroks, Interim Executive Director of the Global Fund. “Working with countries and other organizations around the world, we’ll advance the fight against epidemics and help build strong and sustainable systems for health.”
On 1 December, WHO and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria signed cooperation and financing agreements, amounting to an estimated US$ 50 million, today to strengthen collaboration in the fight against the three diseases. The funding is provided for a set of strategic initiatives under the Global Fund’s catalytic investments portfolio and will help to accelerate efforts to ‘end the epidemics’ and achieve critical outcomes at country level.
Among others, the funding will support WHO’s work in the following areas: developing and implementing funding applications for the Global Fund; strengthening health systems with a view to increasing long-term sustainability; improving data collection and use; expanding access to pre-qualified medicines and other health products; addressing barriers to finding missing TB cases; accelerate action towards malaria elimination; and pilot the introduction of the RTS,S malaria vaccine in three African countries.
WHO and the Global Fund have a long and successful partnership working together to scale-up HIV, TB and malaria interventions and strengthening health systems. These joint efforts have resulted in significant reductions in the disease burdens of HIV, TB and malaria worldwide, saving millions of lives since 2002. Continuing this collaborative partnership is a priority for WHO to make further progress towards achieving the SDGs, including the goal of universal health coverage.
In addition to this umbrella agreement, WHO and the Global Fund are developing an overarching framework of strategic collaboration that will guide the institutional relationship between the organizations and strengthen mutual accountability.
For more information about WHO’s work with the Global Fund, please contact the Office of Strategic Partnerships and Cross-Cutting Coordination in the Communicable Diseases Cluster.
