Update, July 22, 2022: This article has been updated to reflect the extended deadline for application to be part of the Global Fund’s technical review panel.
For over a decade, health care, public health, and development professionals have lent their expertise to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s technical review panel, or TRP. Their work is making a tangible and impactful difference in the global fight against HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria, according to current members.
In 2020, an estimated 1.3 million people died from TB, 680,000 people died from HIV-related causes and 627,000 died from malaria. Yet, at the end of that same year, health programs supported by the Global Fund saved over 44 million lives. “There is no better place to be associated with in terms of saving lives,” said Dr. Ben Karenzi, an independent health systems consultant and health systems expert on the TRP.
The Global Fund brings together governments, civil society, and the private sector to invest in ending the HIV, TB, and malaria epidemics through what it describes as “catalytic investments and innovations.” 2022 marks the organization’s seventh and most ambitious replenishment, aiming to raise $18 billion dollars to distribute over a three-year grant cycle. TRP experts review funding requests submitted to the organization and receive an honorarium for their contributions.
As the four-year term of service of some experts in the TRP membership pool is drawing to an end, The Global Fund is seeking the next batch of 80 to 90 experts to begin work in 2023. Current panelists urge health experts — from program management and implementation, technical advisors, civil society, foundations, national governments, funding agencies, private sector, and academia — to grasp the opportunity to be a part of the Global Fund’s mission.
“Imagine, you can influence programs to do the most effective and right things for health equity in the majority of developing countries with billions of dollars,” said Motoko Seko, a TRP expert on community, human rights, and gender, and professor at the Eikei University of Hiroshima. “It is an opportunity you shouldn’t miss if you care about [the] important global challenges of our time.”
The Global Fund is specifically looking to expand TRP membership of professionals with experience in resilient and sustainable systems for health, equity, human rights and gender equality, health financing and sustainability, as well as in HIV, TB, and malaria. Building on the incoming 2023-2028 strategy, pandemic preparedness and response is an additional area of expertise sought. The Global Fund is particularly interested in new TRP members with experience in program design, implementation and management, and monitoring and evaluation, as well as professionals based in regions currently underrepresented on the TRP, including Eastern Europe, Francophone Africa, Southeast Asia, Middle East, and North Africa. Applications are due by July 24.
“Members of the TRP play a critical role in supporting the Global Fund to invest strategically in programs to end HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria, as well as build resilient and sustainable systems for health that can help us prepare for future pandemics,” said Marijke Wijnroks, chief of staff at the Global Fund. “Beyond making recommendations for funding, the TRP provides guidance to implementers and the secretariat, thereby helping our investments to achieve greater impact.”
Current TRP members explain below why TRP engagement is a good opportunity and what they’ve gleaned from the experience:
1. The TRP provides a platform to have tangible impact at the scale of the Global Fund
Often experts work with one organization at a time, but TRP membership, alongside their existing role, enables professionals to share their expertise, amplifying one’s professional impact.
The evaluation of funding requests provided an opportunity to “contribute further to progress toward ending malaria at a scale [to which] I had no previous access. The TRP advisory role offers additional opportunities to influence Global Fund investments, strategy, and policy, while providing a better understanding of how the organization works,” said Dr. Anne Gasasira, TRP malaria expert and senior program officer at the African Leaders Malaria Alliance.
This is a chance, said Dr. Jabulani Nyenwa, TRP chair and health systems expert and program director at The Palladium Group, “to tangibly touch, transform, and impact the lives and wellbeing of millions of people.”
2. Now more than ever, public health expertise is needed
COVID-19 brought with it a range of setbacks to global health, making the 2030 deadline for achieving various Sustainable Development Goals potentially harder to reach. In Global Fund financed countries, 1 million fewer people with TB were treated in 2020 compared to 2019. There was an 11% drop in those reached with HIV prevention programs, and progress in tackling malaria slowed down.
It will be the panelists’ responsibility to identify the elements of each proposal most likely to maximize impact and generate the most progress toward saving lives. The addition of pandemic preparedness as a TRP area of expertise highlights the need to address emerging health threats while also building health systems and safeguarding progress made in HIV, TB, and malaria control.
“There could never be a more important time than now for public health experts who are looking for an opportunity to make a practical and meaningful difference to the lives of people living with the three diseases to consider joining the TRP,” Nyenwa said.
3. The TRP provides a professional development experience
While contributing to global health challenges and helping others is a core motivation for many in joining the panel, professional development is an important advantage for others. The Global Fund offers an opportunity to share ideas and expand knowledge. “The TRP serves as a collective intelligence … We complement and learn among each other,” said Dr. Daniela Belen Garone, international medical coordinator at Médecins Sans Frontières, adding that she has learned many lessons that have improved her work performance.
Dr. Farhana Amanullah, senior consultant at Indus Hospital in Pakistan, believes her time as a panelist also impacts her future work. “My TRP membership experience will continue to shape my vision and future contributions to pandemic/epidemic eradication and global health, well beyond my [TRP membership] term,” she said.
4. The TRP is an excellent networking opportunity
Online and in-person TRP review meetings in Geneva, Switzerland allow experts from around the world to connect, consult, and create new working relationships that can extend beyond the work of the TRP.
The mentors and members of the TRP and Global Fund secretariat that Amanullah has met during collaborative funding request reviews have been a constant source of guidance and have facilitated network building, she said.
“We have powerful, enriching and respectful discussions, even when we disagree,” said Philippe Lepère, a TRP health systems expert and independent consultant. “Serving members have such different backgrounds, areas of expertise, and come from all around the world.”
“The TRP is like a family. We are very motivated people all working together to deliver together, for the benefit of beneficiaries,” he said.
To find out more about the TRP and to apply to be a panelist, click here. Deadline for applications has been extended to July 31.
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