Urges sustained political commitment to support the life-saving work of the Fund
Addis Ababa, 21 July 2017- The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria on Thursday announced new results that show an up-scale in the live saving programmes of the global financing mechanism. The Global Fund-supported programmes play an important role in supporting national AIDS, TB and Malaria programmes across Africa as well contributing to strengthened health systems.
“The new results announced by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria demonstrate impact in the fight against the three biggest diseases on the continent” said Her Excellency Amira El Fadil the Commissioner for Social Affairs at the African Union Commission. “It is critical that we continue with our advocacy efforts to ensure that the political commitment to fund the mechanisms remains”.
Many countries have leveled their support to the Global Fund over time, indicating a high commitment to the Global Fund and the three diseases relative to other global health and development priorities. However in the context of many competing development priorities the African Union Commission is pushing for its Member States to increase its domestic financing to health programmes.
According to the report in the second half of 2016, an additional 953,000 people were put on antiretroviral therapy (ARV) for HIV in programmes supported by the Global Fund, a 9.5 percent increase, bringing the total to 11 million people. The results, based on data from the end of 2016, also show that programs supported by the Global Fund partnership provided 4.3 million pregnant women with antiretroviral medicines to prevent the transmission of HIV to their unborn children. Four countries account for about 50 percent of the 6-month increase, Nigeria (22 percent), Tanzania (11 percent), Uganda (10 percent) and Myanmar (10 percent). The full national result from Kenya is now included in Global Fund reporting. In previous years the Global Fund captured 50 percent of the national result. An additional 375,000 pregnant women were reached with services to prevent of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, representing a 9.7 percent increase from mid-2016. Counselling and testing for HIV rose by 7.8 percent to reach 579 million sessions.
The latest results show progress in the response to the tuberculosis epidemic with 826,000 new smear-positive cases detected and treated in the second half of 2016, an increase that brings the cumulative result to 17.4 million. People treated for multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) rose by 11.9 percent compared to the six-month period ending June 2016. In the second half of 2016, about 82 million mosquito nets were distributed for the prevention of malaria, an increase of 11.5 percent, to reach a cumulative total of 795 million. Over the same time span, the number of cases of malaria treated increased by 6.7 percent to reach 668 million. The highest number of nets was distributed in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea and India. Together, they accounted for 70 percent of the increase from June 2016.
End 2016 Results
People currently receiving ARV therapy 11,000,000
HIV-positive pregnant women receiving ARV prophylaxis for PMTCT 4,250,000
Counseling and testing encounters 579,000,000
Basic care and support services provided to orphans and vulnerable children 8,000,000
Condoms distributed 5,320,000,000
New smear-positive TB cases detected and treated 17,400,000
People treated for multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) 373,000
Insecticide-treated nets distributed 795,000,000
Structures covered by Indoor Residual Spraying 73,900,000
Cases of malaria treated 668,000,000
Community outreach prevention services (BCC) 501,000,000
People receiving care & support 32,700,000
“Person episodes” of training for health or community workers 16,600,000
For media inquiries:
Tawanda Chisango | Advocacy and Partnerships Expert | Department of Social Affairs | African Union Commission I E-mail: chisangot@african-union.org I Tel: +251934167052
More information:
Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@african-union.org I Web Site: www.au.int I Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
Follow us
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AfricanUnionCommission
Twitter: https://twitter.com/_AfricanUnion
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/AUCommission
Learn more at: http://www.au.int
