Devex Checkup: Why this is a crucial year for global health fundraising

This may already be known as the year of elections, with votes involving more than half the world’s citizens scheduled for 2024. But in the global health space, it is also the year of fundraising.

The two things are actually intertwined, as the outcomes of some of those votes — particularly in the United States — could determine how much money will flow to the aid agencies, funds, and financing institutions that are attempting to raise money this year.

Add to that the fact that global health funding appears to be flatlining, and all of these different agencies and institutions could be fighting with each other for a limited pool of money.

Among the key fundraising events:

• The World Health Organization is seeking $7.1 billion for its core budget over the next four years. The idea is for the agency to secure predictable and flexible funding, which agency officials say is critical ahead of the launch of their 2025-2028 general program of work.

• The World Bank is looking for its largest-ever replenishment for the International Development Association — the multilateral’s concessional financing arm for the lowest-income countries. IDA funding has stalled in recent years, but with the global health community turning away from vertical programming, IDA could play a vital role in providing the resources to help meet broader funding needs if it can secure the funds.

• The Pandemic Fund is playing catch up. The fund needs $10 billion annually to shell out for projects to help prepare for future pandemics, but it has only raised $2 billion. That’s left organizers planning for a pledging moment toward the end of this year to up the fund’s total.

Read: The 4 most important calls for global health funds in 2024

ICYMI: Will shrinking aid force changes to the global health landscape? (Pro)

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New year, new boss

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is also expected to start its replenishment drive as early as June this year. And it will do so with a new chief executive officer: Dr. Sania Nishtar of Pakistan. She was tapped for the role last week. Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate of Nigeria initially accepted the role of CEO early last year before walking away from it.

Though Gavi has not yet set a funding total or start date for the replenishment drive, guiding that process is sure to be one of Nishtar’s first challenges. But not the only one: As she stepped into the role last week, Nishtar said she is preparing to address the health impacts of climate change, vaccine inequity, and the threat of future disease outbreaks.

Read: Gavi appoints Dr. Sania Nishtar as new CEO

One big number

That’s the annual budget this year for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — the largest ever for the philanthropy. The funding infusion will only increase the foundation’s preeminence in global health, one of its main areas of focus, amid increasing criticism over Gates’ dominance of the sector’s agenda.

Bill Gates didn’t address those concerns at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, but he did float an idea for how to draw more attention — and potential funding — to the sector. He declared himself “jealous” of the annual U.N.-organized climate talks and said he would welcome a similar meeting each year for global health.

“I wouldn’t say that the global health field understands how to keep global health on the agenda in terms of attention and finance, as much as we should,” he explained at a breakfast event attended by my colleague Vince Chadwick.

Read: Why Bill Gates wants a COP for global health

Close the gap

Speaking of Davos, a report released during the annual meetings predicts that closing the women’s health gap by addressing the issues that uniquely or disproportionately affect women could have global financial benefits to the tune of $1 trillion annually.

Improving the health outcomes for 3.9 billion people would make it easier for them to remain in the workforce, support their families, and contribute to the global economy.

The findings have spurred WEF to launch a Global Alliance for Women’s Health, which will fundraise around the opportunities that have been identified as potential improvements. That alliance has already raised $55 million in pledges.

Failing up?

It is generally accepted that the COVAX initiative, which promised to vaccinate 40% of the world against COVID-19 by 2021, was a disappointment — even a failure. But Candela Iglesias, director of Alanda Health, wants us to reconsider that conclusion.

The initiative fell prey to several problems, including limited funds, the high costs of vaccines, and crucially pharmaceutical companies that prioritized delivering vials to high-income countries over their COVAX commitments.

But in its push for the fair allocation of vaccines, COVAX may have helped to shift the paradigm “of what is possible in achieving global health equity," Iglesias writes in an opinion piece for Devex. And rather than writing it off as a failure, we may need to reconsider its legacy down the line.

Opinion: Why these global health ‘failures’ changed the world

What we’re reading

A nonprofit established health facilities along major transport routes across eastern and southern Africa to make sure that mobile workers such as truck drivers can get critical medical care. [The Guardian]

It wasn’t long ago that malaria was present on all nine of Cape Verde’s inhabited islands, but after an extensive control plan, the country was declared malaria-free this month. [BBC]

A public-private initiative to treat, prevent, and diagnose antibiotic-resistant infections received a $25 million funding injection this month. [CIDRAP]