LONDON & GENEVA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria welcomes the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) pledge of US$33 million to accelerate progress in the fight against HIV transmission in up to five priority countries. The Global Fund intends to further match this commitment with at least US$1.5 for every US$1 committed by CIFF.
“While testing and treatment are essential tools in the fight against HIV, the ultimate goal is preventing transmission in the first place,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “Through targeted deployment of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), we can dramatically cut the number of new HIV infections. We are extremely grateful to CIFF for their new commitment, and we are proud to continue working alongside them.”
To reduce HIV infections by 90% by 2030, 10 million PrEP initiations are needed in priority countries. PrEP is a medicine that people at risk for HIV can take to prevent HIV infection. When taken as prescribed, PrEP reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99%.
The Global Fund and CIFF have partnered to fight HIV since 2015. In 2019, CIFF and the Global Fund launched a US$25 million catalytic investment to scale up access to HIV self-tests in countries where millions live without knowing their HIV status. This mechanism is fueling remarkable progress in sub-Saharan Africa, where the majority of those living with undiagnosed HIV reside. In five of Africa’s poorest countries, the distribution of self-tests has grown from a few thousand units in 2019 to over 3 million in 2021. This partnership combines CIFF’s experience in innovative approaches and the Global Fund’s experience in offering broad HIV program support, taking innovation and new products to scale, and supporting country leadership in the HIV response.
“The Global Fund has a track record of deploying well-governed public-private partnerships within its country-led approach to scale proven innovations,” said Chris Hohn, Founder of CIFF. “Equal access to lifesaving products like PrEP is, tragically, not a given across the world. Catalytic investments at the right time, with organizations like the Global Fund, can change this, increasing the impact of philanthropic funds and saving millions of lives.”
In countries where the Global Fund invests, total AIDS-related deaths have dropped by 65% since the Global Fund was founded in 2002. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has threatened to reverse these extraordinary gains. In 2020, for the first time in the history of the Global Fund, key prevention and testing services for HIV declined compared to the previous year.
CIFF's US$33 million commitment represents an increase of more than 30% over their previous commitment and comes ahead of the Global Fund's Seventh Replenishment to raise US$18 billion to fund its next three-year grant cycle. The Global Fund estimates that the funding of US$18 billion would save 20 million more lives, while strengthening health and community systems to reinforce pandemic preparedness.
About the Global Fund: The Global Fund is a worldwide partnership to defeat HIV, TB and malaria and ensure a healthier, safer, more equitable future for all. We raise and invest more than US$4 billion a year to fight the deadliest infectious diseases, challenge the injustice which fuels them and strengthen health systems in more than 100 of the hardest hit countries. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have invested an additional US$4.4 billion to fight the new pandemic and reinforce systems for health. We unite world leaders, communities, civil society, health workers and the private sector to find solutions that have the most impact, and we take them to scale worldwide. Since 2002, the Global Fund partnership has saved 44 million lives.
About CIFF: The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) is an independent philanthropic organization with offices in Addis Ababa, Beijing, London, Nairobi and New Delhi. Established in 2002, CIFF works with a wide range of partners seeking to transform the lives of children and adolescents in developing countries. Areas of work include sexual and reproductive health, maternal and child health, opportunities for girls and young women, tackling child slavery and exploitation, and supporting smart ways to slow down and stop climate change.
Information on the work of the Global Fund is available at www.theglobalfund.org
Information on the work of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation is available at https://ciff.org/.
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