The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria confirmed it is cutting $1.43 billion in funding already allocated for its current funding cycle. This represents around 11% of the funding originally committed for the fund’s seventh cycle, which runs from 2024 until 2026.
Country teams are now scrambling to reprioritize and revise their grants as a result of the cuts, which are as high as 16% in some places. While the Global Fund has assured countries it is maintaining support for lifesaving services, including treatment for HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, advocates said community-based organizations remain worried they might face a repeat of the uncertainty and upheaval that occurred as Washington froze funding and then dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development earlier this year.
“This is the largest and fastest reprogramming the Global Fund has ever had to do,” Fionnuala Murphy, the head of global advocacy for Frontline AIDS, told Devex. Even as she praised the Global Fund for emphasizing the importance of community involvement, she cautioned that “in situations where information is not flowing as clearly as it should, community-led organizations, which are literally fighting for their lives and the lives of the communities they serve, are going to find that very concerning.”