Canada pledges CAD$1.2 billion to the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment
At the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s Replenishment Conference today, Canada demonstrated outstanding leadership and its unwavering commitment to the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria with a CAD$1.2 billion pledge to the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment. This investment will enable Global Fund programming to get the world back on track to eliminating these epidemics and will save millions of lives.
The Prime Minister also announced an additional contribution of CAD$100 million for the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism, which supports countries to mitigate the devastating impact of COVID-19 on programs to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, and initiates urgent improvements in health and community systems.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledges CAD$1.2 billion to the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment in New York on September 21., 2022.
Twenty years ago, AIDS, TB, and malaria seemed unbeatable. In 2002, in an act of extraordinary global solidarity and leadership, the world came together to create the Global Fund to fight what were then the deadliest diseases confronting humanity. Over the 20 years that followed, the Global Fund partnership has saved 50 million lives and reduced the combined death rate from the three diseases by more than half in the countries where it invests.
While the Global Fund partnership has made tremendous progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in hard-won gains being lost. For the first time in two decades, we lost ground in the quest to end the epidemics, as COVID-19 demanded much of the world’s attention and resources. TB programs were disproportionately impacted, and in 2020, we saw global TB deaths increase for the first time since 2005. But, the Global Fund partnership rapidly mounted a response to deliver additional resources and reverse this damage. In 2021, we began to see these investments paying off, as treatment and prevention programs for HIV, TB and malaria began to bounce back.
The Global Fund plays a particularly important role in the quest to end TB, providing 76% of all international financing for the disease. Given the devastating setbacks that TB programs have faced during the pandemic, the Global Fund is our best bet to getting back on track to ending this preventable and curable disease. Today, Canada stepped up alongside many global allies to continue to support this life saving mechanism.
Over the past several months, Stop TB Canada and civil society organizations, both in Canada and globally, have been calling for world leaders to #FightForWhatCounts at a time when global solidarity is needed more than ever. Our efforts did not go unnoticed. We can be proud of the impact our advocacy has had today in influencing this historic investment. The level of ambition displayed by Canada on the global stage today was greatly influenced by the tireless efforts of volunteers, civil society, affected communities, and parliamentarians from across party lines. Hundreds of Canadians came together to call for ambition, and today the Prime Minister responded.
While we celebrate Canada’s strong investment towards a world without TB, the fight does not end here. Stop TB Canada remains committed to increasing the political will to end TB. Thank you to our partners, volunteers and supporters for your work throughout this campaign. Your individual efforts and our collective impact have resulted in a big win for #TheWorldWeNeed – one that will help us to get one step closer to a world without AIDS, TB and malaria and prepare us for the next pandemic.