Global Fund fights AIDS, TB and malaria while reforming itself

Excerpted from "Nigeria: Nation Receives U.S. $225 Million Grant for HIV, TB, Malaria," AllAfrica, August 26, 2012-- The Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu in Abuja, on behalf of the federal government received $225 million from the Global Fund to fight the three pandemic diseases: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.


Global Fund is an international financing institution dedicated to attracting and disbursing resources to tackle these diseases. "The special thing about these grants we are signing today is that the Global Fund board, to my knowledge, for the first time approved the full funding amount available which allows us to include an additional $50 million for bed nets, upon further funding commitments by the government of Nigeria."

The health minister said data from the country's 2010 malaria indicator survey show that Nigeria is working hard on the new initiatives on controlling and eliminating malaria.

He stated, "This money coming in is going to contribute significantly to the total funding of malaria elimination program in Nigeria. The proposal as approved by the Global Fund...should be implemented with all due diligence. Nigerians should look forward to significantly reducing the burden of malaria before 2015."


CMA VP for Government Relations, Jonathan Imbody: "The United States has provided the lion's share of funding for the internationally managed Global Fund, to the consternation of many in the faith-based medical and relief communities, who point out that precious little of that money has ended up in the hands of faith-based health groups overseas.


"I recently met privately with the Global Fund's new General Manager, Gabriel Jaramillo, for a candid conversation about this problem. I noted that the World Health Organization released a report revealing that between 30 and 70 percent of the health infrastructure in Africa is currently owned by faith-based organizations. The Gallup World Poll asked sub-Saharan Africans in 19 countries about their confidence in eight social and political institutions. Overall across the continent, they were most likely to say they were confident in the religious organizations (76 percent) in their countries. Yet less than five percent of Global Fund grants ever reach faith-based health organizations.

"We discussed potential reforms including more active oversight by the Global Fund of what goes on at the country level. Based on experience with discrimination against faith-based organizations in U.S. government agency grants for AIDS work, I noted the benefit of previewing grant opportunity requirements for anti-faith discrimination issues.

"The Global Fund leadership has embarked on an aggressive program of reform of both personnel and policies. Former U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt, with whom I also met recently to discuss conscience rights and religious liberty issues, has led a commission that has provided the Global Fund with recommendations to transform the organization, including reforms related to transparency, accountability and communication."

Resources
Learn more about the Global Fund at www.theglobalfund.org/en/
ACTION
Share your opinion on how to reform the Global Fund by sending an email to: BetterGrants@theglobalfund.org
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CMDA Ethics Statement: AIDS