R197 billion pledged to fight AIDS, malaria and TB

A global health initiative that works to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria raised $11.34 billion at an event in Johannesburg on Friday, below its target for work from 2027-2029.

The Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is trying to raise $18 billion for its work in a challenging climate for global health funding that has seen many big donors retreat following an aid overhaul in the United States under President Donald Trump.

“Money will be tight, so we must be smarter,” the Global Fund’s executive director, Peter Sands, said at the event on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of 20, which brings together the world’s 20 biggest economies.

He said “the old model” of development funding was over and that it was essential for countries to become more self-reliant, but warned that too abrupt a transition would derail progress.

The Global Fund is planning to cut operating costs by 20% in 2026, Sands added.

The United States pledged $4.6 billion. The U.S. has long been the Global Fund’s largest donor and in 2022 former President Joe Biden hosted the previous fundraising event and pledged $6 billion, although that full total has not been delivered yet under the new administration.

The Global Fund has already warned countries about cuts to their existing grants for work until the end of 2026, as a result of the current shortfall. 

The group says its work has saved 70 million lives since its inception in 2002, working alongside governments to distribute life-saving items such as insecticide-treated malaria nets, antiretroviral therapy for HIV and TB treatments.

In 2022, the Global Fund also aimed to raise $18 billion, and made $15.7 billion in the end, raising just over $14 billion at the pledging event.

• Reporting by Nellie Peyton in Johannesburg and Jennifer Rigby in London.