Civil society crucial in response to HIV and AIDS
Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund, in conversation
with representatives of Canadian and international organizations
responding to HIV and AIDS on April 24, 2009. The meeting was hosted
by ICASO and three other Canadian organizations: the Interagency
Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD), the Canadian HIV/AIDS
Legal Network and RESULTS Canada.
TORONTO, May 20, 2009—The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, described as a "model mechanism for mobilizing resources to address the most serious global health problems of our time," faces a shortfall of about $5 billion to meet the demand for the funding of projects in 2009 and 2010.
“The role of civil society in advocating that governments deliver on their pledges cannot be underestimated,” said the executive director of the Global Fund, Michel Kazatchkine, “given that forty percent of the funding disbursements by the Global Fund goes to non-governmental organizations.”
“However, in addition to keeping the pressure on governments (in particular the ones that make up the G8) to deliver on their promises, it is crucial that civil society also advocates for Country Coordinating Mechanisms to be as inclusive as possible. In addition, programs must address critical needs related to gender and sexual minorities and community strengthening,” said Mary Ann Torres, Acting Policy and Advocacy Director for the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO).
On April 24, 2009, ICASO and three other Canadian organizations responding to HIV and AIDS—the Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD), the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and RESULTS Canada—hosted a meeting in Toronto with Dr Kazatchkine, who was on an official visit to Canada.
He said that the worldwide financial crisis remains a major concern, given the impact on national health budgets and the delivery of health systems, treatment and preventive interventions. In southern Africa alone, “more than 40 million people will be forced below the poverty threshold,” Dr Kazatchkine noted.
“We have an unfinished mandate,” he said of the Global Fund. “The three primary diseases—AIDS, TB and malaria—still kill four million people every year.”
In total, donors have pledged US$ 10 billion in the Global Fund’s second replenishment to ensure that programs will continue to be funded over the next two years and that new programs will be covered.
The Global Fund has to date committed US$15.6 billion in 140 countries to support large scale prevention, treatment and care programs against the three diseases. It provides more than two million antiretroviral treatments. More than four million TB treatments have been delivered, and 70 million insecticide treated bed nets to prevent malaria.
(ends)
ICASO is the global host for the Civil Society Action Team (CSAT), which supports civil society engagement in Global Fund grants. This includes project proposals and implementation of Global Fund grants – through brokering technical support and coordinating advocacy nationally, regionally and internationally.