Source: taipeitimes.com
As part of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, the international community set itself the ambitious goal of eradicating HIV, tuberculosis and malaria by 2030.
Despite the extraordinary progress that has already been made, ending these pandemics and achieving the broader goal of ensuring the health and well-being of all requires the ramping up of efforts to support nations in building resilient and inclusive health systems.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a public-private partnership, has contributed substantially to this effort, by massively scaling up prevention and treatment.
In nations where the fund invests, 18.9 million people received antiretroviral therapy for HIV last year, 5.3 million tuberculosis patients were treated and 131 million mosquito nets were distributed.
These efforts have proved tremendously effective in reducing these pandemics’ death tolls. The latest figures indicate that 32 million lives have been saved since the fund’s creation in 2002.
Over the past decade, the annual number of deaths from HIV, tuberculosis and malaria have been lowered by about a half.
Yet, we are still not on track to eliminate HIV, tuberculosis and malaria by 2030. To achieve this goal, we must not only expand access to treatment drastically; we also need to achieve a sharp reduction in new infections.
Success requires clear political leadership and sustained investment in critical capacities, such as well-trained community health workers, cost-effective supply chains, quality data systems and well-equipped laboratories.
To ensure that health services reach the poorest and most marginalized, barriers to access — such as user fees, human rights-related impediments or gender inequality — must be dismantled. Active community engagement is essential.
Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Nations and communities need to devise strategies that account for their residents’ needs and reflect the particular disease threats they face.
Moreover, no single external development partner can provide all of the necessary support.
That is why we are calling for innovative coalitions comprising multilateral and bilateral development organizations that leverage their complementary strengths to bolster national capacities.
Such coordinated support is needed most urgently in regions — such as the Sahel in sub-Saharan Africa — that have weak institutions and infrastructure, and that are particularly vulnerable to security threats and environmental crises.
In the Ivory Coast, the fund and Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) have invested in building, together with the Ivorian government, a regional bureau for the national medical drug-supply center. This facilitates treatment delivery as close as possible to communities, thereby strengthening the health authorities’ capacity to reach the most vulnerable in a sustainable way.
In the same vein, the AFD and the fund are supporting the Nigerien Ministry of Public Health in its efforts to expand access to health products and strengthen the national laboratory network, thereby improving diagnosis, including for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
By ensuring synergy among activities and preventing duplication of efforts, we can support Niger in strengthening its health system, including at the community level.
Avoiding silo-based activity is the raison d’etre of the partnership agreement between the fund and the AFD. Under the leadership of national health authorities, we are pursuing greater convergence and synergy among programs to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, such as those the fund finances, and initiatives to strengthen health systems, such as those in which the AFD invests.
Underscoring the extent to which these two areas are interconnected, the fund is already the largest multilateral provider of grants for strengthening health systems, investing more than US$1 billion per year.
By combining our organizations’ strengths, we are reaffirming our commitment to ensuring effective cooperation and coordinated action to eradicate HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, and to building strong and resilient health systems, particularly in the most vulnerable nations.
The international community has a shared responsibility to fulfill its commitments without leaving anyone behind.
To end HIV, tuberculosis and malaria epidemics by 2030, a business-as-usual approach would not suffice. We must step up the fight.
That means investing more in health systems and forging effective new partnerships, such as the one between the AFD and the fund.