Call for funds to fight global killer diseases

The Global Fund, which finances the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, is seeking fresh investment worth Sh1.4 trillion to help save 16 million lives in the next three years.

The money is expected to reduce death rates by half and build stronger health systems by 2023.

“We have made extraordinary progress in reducing deaths, but progress has stalled,” said the Fund’s Executive Director Peter Sands, warning that shortfalls in funding could threaten the target to end disease epidemics and create resilient health systems for all.

According to the Fund, progress has slowed because of wavering political commitment and increasing insecticide and drug resistance.

For instance, after years of success, global response to malaria has stalled due to levelling off of funding and an increase in new cases, threatening to reverse efforts to put the disease under control.

And although anti-retroviral drugs have stopped millions of people dying from AIDS, the massive increase in Africa’s young population poses a threat of more new infections than at the height of the epidemic at the start of this century.

“In Africa, if the largest youth cohort ever grows up healthy and doesn’t get HIV, doesn’t deal with lots of bouts of malaria or tuberculosis, they will contribute to the economy. They will be amazing engines and drivers of change across the continent. But if we don’t increase our funding, you have this cohort that could end up with a lot of death and disability, which is not something anybody wants,” said Melinda Gates from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation during a conference call with journalists last week.

NEED TO BOOST FUNDING KITTY

The Foundation, which has invested nearly Sh1 trillion in global health funds, called upon donors not to slow down on funding for fighting major diseases, providing childhood vaccines and boosting maternal and child health.

“A child born today is half as likely to die before the age of five, than if he had been born in 2000,” said Ms Gates, demonstrating that investments in global health funds pay off.

There are also fears that failure to adequately replenish the global health kitty could have a bearing on the ability of low and middle-income countries to fight cases of drug resistance, which could lead to a rebound in diseases and deaths due to antimicrobial resistance.

The Sh1.4 trillion the Fund is seeking would be spent on medicine for treating HIV and preventing transmission, tuberculosis drugs and mosquito nets to protect against malaria.

To achieve this, the Fund needs to boost its healthcare funding kitty from Sh6.6 trillion to Sh8.3 trillion to ensure everyone has access to quality services.
“I’m not at all complacent about the challenge of raising the money we need – and obviously the geopolitical environment is complicated.

“But we are confident we have a strong investment case and a demonstrable level of delivering impact,” said Mr Sands.

Kenya is one of the countries that benefit from support from the Global Fund. In 2017, the Fund supported antiretroviral therapy for 1.1 million Kenyans; treatment for 84,000 tuberculosis patients and the distribution 13.6 million mosquito nets.

Donors will meet in France in October to replenish the Global Fund and focus on the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) in 2020.