MP letter to the Secretary of State for International Development

Dear Secretary of State,

I have been contacted by one of my constituents who has informed me of the importance of this years replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund). As I’m sure you are aware, the Global Fund is the single most important mechanism for donors, recipient countries, civil society, the private sector and other stakeholders to unite in their response to the three diseases.

We have made incredible progress in the fight against AIDS but we still have a long way to go. Every day nearly 1,000 adolescent girls and women acquire HIV and with the youth population set to continue to grow we need to continue to invest heavily in mechanisms that we know produce results in order to turn the tide.

The Global Fund has been proven to offer high value for money through its model which pools resources, consolidates technical expertise, and leverages increased investments from the private sector and high-burden countries.

I’m proud of the UK’s contribution to the Global Fund over the years which has helped save 2.3 million lives, and think it is important that we remain a key donor. Therefore I would like to encourage you to ensure that the UK makes a timely, strong and ambitious pledge to the Fund of £1.4 billion for the next implementation period in the lead up to the replenishment conference in Lyon.

The Global Fund is seeking to raise a total of at least US $14 billion from donors in this replenishment round, with this money it has committed to saving a further 16 million lives and reduce the mortality rate by 52 percent across the three diseases by 2023, relative to 2017 levels. It will also help avert 234 million infections or cases of the three diseases.

Alongside other international assistance and ambitious increases in domestic health financing, US $14 billion is the minimum needed to ensure the Global Fund reaches it 2022 strategy targets. However, it won’t be enough to get fully back on track to reach the global target of ending the three diseases by 2030. The Global Fund Advocates Network estimated in their Get Back on Track report that this would require $16.8 billion spent through the Global Fund, making it all the more important that the Global Fund mobilises US $14 billion this year at the very least.

I’m sure you will agree that an investment in bringing about the results listed above is fully in line with the vision of Global Britain, and it also will allow us to show our renewed commitment to achieving Sustainable Development Goal Three.

Yours Sincerely,