Latest news with #PeterSands
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Health
- Irish Examiner
US defunding puts fight against AIDS, TB and malaria in jeopardy
Progress in tackling TB and other killer infectious diseases could be at risk as America and smaller donors pull back their supports, the Global Fund executive director has warned. The fund, supported by Ireland and other EU countries as well as the Gates Foundation and private donors, spends around $5bn annually tackling AIDS, TB and malaria in over 120 countries. Peter Sands warned: 'We actually ended 2024 with a real sense of momentum in the fight against TB, but since then we've had some major disruptions to ODA (official development assistance) and global health funding. 'So there is a real risk at this point as to whether or not we can sustain that momentum.' While the covid-19 pandemic disrupted aid programmes, he said until recently there was 'a strong recovery' in TB statistics. President Trump's shock defunding of USAID and other programmes, as well as cuts by Britain and others, have changed that landscape. Some 95% of HIV funding worldwide was either through the American PEPFAR funds or the Global Fund. The sudden drop in American funding is 'a significant concern', according to Mr Sands. 'So in some countries for example we would buy the antiretroviral treatments (for HIV patients) and PEPFAR would pay for the clinics,' he said. It means these gaps now have to be filled. Mr Sands visited Dublin this week to discuss Ireland's contribution to the fund's next three-year cycle. Ireland has donated over €339m since 2001. He welcomed Ireland's donations and its 'active engagement' in the board and other works. 'There's a moral argument for stopping so many people dying from a disease we know how to treat and can stop,' he said. 'There's also a more self-interested argument that says we're playing with fire by not getting more on top of it.' The fund buys from Ireland too including rapid diagnostic tests and medicines mainly for HIV programmes. Last year this came to about $4m (€3.5m). It also supports the buying of medicines at large-scale to negotiate lower prices. For example, a year's supply of HIV antiviral treatment dropped from $10,000 per person per year in 2002 to about $35 now, he explained. 'So we continue to drive the cost down working with manufacturers,' he said. Malaria is a particular concern as it is now spreading due to climate change. He added: 'It's the biggest killer of children in Sudan now. To put in perspective, some of the poorest countries in the world are having an intensity of disease burden that feels like the worst of covid-19 all the time. 'If you go to hospitals and clinics in somewhere like Chad or northern Nigeria 50% to 80% of the activity in those health facilities is malaria all the time.' In Ukraine, the fund supports a local NGO to run mobile health clinics especially for areas where hospitals were destroyed by the conflict. 'They have a significant HIV and TB challenge which has been made worse by the war,' he said. Doctors had to develop 'quite sophisticated tracking systems' to make sure people continue to receive the right treatment even when they flee to safer areas, he said.
Medscape
22-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
Global Health Bodies Could Team Up to Tackle Funding Crisis
LONDON (Reuters) -Two global health groups that fund billions of dollars worth of critical medical aid - from childhood vaccines to malaria treatments - are in talks about merging some functions to help combat a financing crunch, their chief executives told Reuters. The groups – the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the vaccine group Gavi – said they had been discussing working more efficiently together for several years, but a massive pull-back on government-funded aid budgets, led by the Trump administration, has given the talks more urgency. 'I think the crisis – and it is a crisis, what we're facing in global health right now – is an impetus to think hard about the shape and structure of the global health ecosystem,' Peter Sands, chief executive of the Global Fund, told Reuters. Gavi and the Global Fund set up a working group in autumn last year to work more closely together and explore merging some functions, joined by the World Bank's Global Financing Facility for women and girls. The group's work, which is ongoing, has not been previously reported. 'The idea is not to bring these massive structures together, the idea is to work better at the country level… to make life for countries easier,' said Sania Nishtar, Gavi chief executive. Sands and Nishtar spoke to Reuters during the World Health Organization's annual meeting in Geneva, at which budget cuts and efficiencies were high on the agenda. Nishtar gave an example of Gavi in Nigeria helping local health officials give children measles and rubella vaccines, while Global Fund supported them giving bed nets to their parents to help prevent malaria. Previously, the two groups might have had separate desks, supply chains, data, staff, logistics, and guidelines, and even warehouses. That should be done better, she said. Working together on rolling out the malaria vaccine, led by Gavi, alongside other malaria tools like preventive drugs, which the Global Fund manages, had also prompted greater cooperation. The Global Fund is trying to raise $18 billion for its work from 2027-2029, and Gavi is trying to raise $9 billion for 2026-2030. Donors told Reuters that they are pushing for efficiencies as they consider how much to pledge to the groups, which have saved millions of lives since beginning work in the early 2000s. A Gavi spokesperson said it had started a voluntary departure scheme among its 650 staff and consultants and was working to streamline operations. The Global Fund has around 1,200 staff and declined to comment on potential cuts. Advocates including Bill Gates, a major global health funder through his foundation, said he had been talking to governments about the essential role the two organisations play. 'Being an advocate and making sure the money is well-spent, that is part of my role,' he told Reuters earlier this month. (Reporting by Jennifer Rigby, editing by Michele Gershberg and Elaine Hardcastle)
Reuters
22-05-2025
- Health
- Reuters
Global vaccine and health bodies could team up more to tackle US-led funding crisis
LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) - Two global health groups that fund billions of dollars worth of critical medical aid - from childhood vaccines to malaria treatments - are in talks about merging some functions to help combat a financing crunch, their chief executives told Reuters. The groups – the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the vaccine group Gavi – said they had been discussing working more efficiently together for several years, but a massive pull-back on government-funded aid budgets, led by the Trump administration, has given the talks more urgency. 'I think the crisis – and it is a crisis, what we're facing in global health right now – is an impetus to think hard about the shape and structure of the global health ecosystem,' Peter Sands, chief executive of the Global Fund, told Reuters. Gavi and the Global Fund set up a working group in autumn last year to work more closely together and explore merging some functions, joined by the World Bank's Global Financing Facility for women and girls. The group's work, which is ongoing, has not been previously reported. 'The idea is not to bring these massive structures together, the idea is to work better at the country level… to make life for countries easier,' said Sania Nishtar, Gavi chief executive. Sands and Nishtar spoke to Reuters during the World Health Organization's annual meeting in Geneva, at which budget cuts and efficiencies were high on the agenda. Nishtar gave an example of Gavi in Nigeria helping local health officials give children measles and rubella vaccines, while Global Fund supported them giving bed nets to their parents to help prevent malaria. Previously, the two groups might have had separate desks, supply chains, data, staff, logistics, and guidelines, and even warehouses. That should be done better, she said. Working together on rolling out the malaria vaccine, led by Gavi, alongside other malaria tools like preventive drugs, which the Global Fund manages, had also prompted greater cooperation. The Global Fund is trying to raise $18 billion for its work from 2027-2029, and Gavi is trying to raise $9 billion for 2026-2030. Donors told Reuters that they are pushing for efficiencies as they consider how much to pledge to the groups, which have saved millions of lives since beginning work in the early 2000s. A Gavi spokesperson said it had started a voluntary departure scheme among its 650 staff and consultants and was working to streamline operations. The Global Fund has around 1,200 staff and declined to comment on potential cuts. Advocates including Bill Gates, a major global health funder through his foundation, said he had been talking to governments about the essential role the two organisations play. 'Being an advocate and making sure the money is well-spent, that is part of my role,' he told Reuters earlier this month.
