Govt Increases Its Contribution to Global Fund to U.S.$30 Million. 13/10/10

NIGERIA'S contribution of $10 million is quite significant

AllAfrica

Lagos — NIGERIA'S contribution of $10 million announced by the country's Health Minister, Professor C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu at the recently concluded Global Fund Third Voluntary Replenishment 2011-2013 is quite significant considering that it dwarfs the contribution of other African countries at the forum. Only two other countries in Africa made pledges; South Africa-$2.1 and Tunisia-$2.0. In addition, a Nigerian bank led some private sector organizations under the umbrella of a body known as Gift from Africa to make a donation of $1million. Announcing Nigeria's pledge, Prof. Chukwu stated that "The Third Global Fund Replenishment is an opportunity for the government to restate its commitment to the health and well-being of its citizens in furtherance of Nigeria's endorsement and commitment in support of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's new initiative-the Global Strategy for Women's and Children's Health".

While drawing attention to the fact that the new pledge brings Nigeria's total contribution to the Fund which was established in 2002 to $30 million, the Health Minister noted that "Nigeria has remained both a contributor and a beneficiary of the Global Fund." He further said "Nigeria has benefitted enormously from the support of the Fund for the rapid scale-up of interventions in its response to AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as in health systems strengthening". Specifically, Professor Chukwu said the gains of the Global Fund have contributed immensely to progress made towards achievement of the health MDGs as a total of 107,122 People Living With HIV/AIDS are on Anti-Retroviral Therapy; 90,078 new smear-positive Tuberculosis cases have been detected and treated; while 7,452,173 insecticide treated long lasting nets have been distributed with global Fund support.

Noting with gratitude the contributions of donor countries, the Secretary-General of the UN Mr Ban Ki-Moon who chaired the pledging session said "programs supported by the Global Fund have saved an estimated 5.7 million lives. They have provided AIDS treatment for 2.8 million people; TB treatment for 7 million people and distributed 122 million bed nets to prevent malaria." According to the Secretary-General, although much has been achieved so far, there is need to renew efforts at ensuring that the goal of eliminating the three dreaded diseases is achieved. He declared that the world is "within sight of ending deaths from malaria by 2015". He added that "investing in the Global Fund has proven to be a powerful engine for development . It is the foundation of a virtuous cycle of better education, social stability and growing economic dynamism."

Of the projected $13 billion that was announced ahead of the Third Voluntary Replenishment (2011-2013) Pledging Conference, pledges totaling US$11.68 billion were made by donor governments, private donors and religious bodies amongst others.

The Global Fund is the world's largest multilateral financing organization for health. According to UNAIDS, it provides 25% of all international financing for AIDS globally, two-thirds for tuberculosis and 75% for malaria.

Since the Fund came into existence in 2002, US$1.48 has been approved for Nigeria to access however only US$500 of that amount has been accessed due to a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons are time lags in accepting proposals, due diligence before the release of funds, delays by principal recipients (government agencies and Non-Governmental agencies) in reporting implementation-the Fund being performance-based as well as the time required to audit performance reports by the Global Fund.

Apart from the pledging, an update on the Global Fund's financial resources was presented to delegates in an effort to encourage transparency, effectiveness, accountability and inclusiveness. The Fund's Deputy Executive Director, Dr. Debrework Zewdie also made a presentation titled "An agenda for a more efficient and effective Global Fund."