March 4, 2016
The European Commission has announced its three-year pledge of €470 million – a 27 percent increase – to the Global Fund, the first to be made for the Global Fund’s Fifth Replenishment.
The European Commission is showing its strong leadership and commitment to global health by committing €100 million more than its previous pledge. While the United States remains a leader in global health and the largest single donor to the Global Fund, the European Commission is its sixth largest contributor. Altogether, the European region represents nearly half of the total contributions to the Global Fund.
Later this year, a Replenishment Conference will be held for the public and private sectors, non-governmental organizations and faith-based organizations to join together and pledge donations to the Global Fund for its 2017-2019 cycle. In December, the Fund released an investment case, seeking to raise $13 billion to help end HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics by 2030.
The Global Fund has made great progress in the fight against these three diseases since 2002. Global Fund-supported programs have saved 17 million lives, and the partnership is on track to save a total of 22 million lives by the end of this year.
The global community must work together to ensure robust funding for the Global Fund during its next three-year cycle by increasing pledges and domestic investments in health. As the Global Fund has shown, investments in health have experienced exponential progress over the past 15 years. Building upon that momentum, as the European Commission has done, is the way to move forward and continue saving and improving lives around the world.