October 19, 2021
Washington, DC – Yesterday the Senate Appropriations Committee posted its fiscal year 2022 State Department, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) funding bill, providing $1.56 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund). This is the third and final annual appropriation from the U.S. for the Global Fund’s 6th Replenishment.
“Thank you to Senators Leahy, Shelby, Coons and Graham and the entire Senate Appropriations Committee for your unwavering commitment to ending the deadly AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria epidemics,” said Chris Collins, President and CEO, Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Friends). “COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on global health programs. A strong U.S. investment is needed now more than ever to make sure get back on track to end the AIDS, TB and malaria epidemics and in the process be better prepared to prevent and respond to future disease threats.”
Since it was founded in 2002, the Global Fund partnership has saved over 44 million lives, but for the first time in the history of the Global Fund, key programmatic results in the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria have gone backwards. In 2020, about one million fewer people with TB were treated in 2020 compared with 2019. For drug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant TB, testing and treatment declined by a staggering 19% and 37%, respectively. Until COVID-19 arrived, TB killed more people globally than any other infectious disease and is now the second deadliest infectious disease in the world.
For HIV treatment, children have been left furthest behind, with only 54% getting the lifesaving HIV treatment they need in 2020. Overall, 11% fewer people were reached with HIV prevention programs and services and HIV tests declined by 22%. Malaria programming fared better through the pandemic, but progress against the disease – which killed over 400,000 people in 2019 — has stalled due to COVID-19.
“The recent data from the Global Fund show how far we’ve come, but also how fragile our progress is in the face of an unprecedented global pandemic,” said Dr. Jeffrey L. Sturchio, Friends’ Board Chair and chairman at Rabin Martin, a global health strategy consulting firm. “I applaud the Senate and House Appropriations Committees for understanding how important it is to keep up the fight against these pandemics. I urge Congress to pass this funding bill in the name of saving lives, equity and our shared health security.”
ABOUT FRIENDS OF THE GLOBAL FIGHT AGAINST AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA:
Friends of the Global Fight Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria advocates for U.S. support of the Global Fund, and the goal to end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. For more information about Friends of the Global Fight, visit www.theglobalfight.org.
ABOUT THE GLOBAL FUND:
The Global Fund is a partnership designed to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics. As an international organization, the Global Fund mobilizes and invests more than US$4 billion a year to support programs run by local experts in more than 100 countries. In partnership with governments, civil society, technical agencies, the private sector, faith-based organizations and people affected by the diseases, we are challenging barriers and embracing innovation. Learn more at https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/overview.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Rachel Irwin