Partnerships
Among the most prominent global partnerships (between 75 and 100) figure The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), GAVI (Global Alliance Vaccine Initiative), Stop TB and Roll Back Malaria. GFATM and GAVI today tap significant amounts: since its foundation in 2002 the Global Fund has approved projects for 5 billion dollars in 127 countries and disbursed 2 billion. GAVI was set up in 2000 and in February 2005 had mobilized almost 1.3 million dollars (with 1.19 billion dollars of additional contributions announced).
By and large these global partnerships meet their target of mobilizing international financing for health-specific problematics (well beyond what partners would have been able to achieve individually), programme effectiveness and promoting broad-based stakeholder participation. However, criticism is made on the lack of country-ownership for recipient countries in terms of defining strategies and finance budgeting. A lack of coordination and communication and the destabilizing effect this has in terms of defining sector priorities or using resources (particularly human) is also criticized.
Partnerships
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM)
“The Global Fund was created to finance a dramatic turn-around in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. These diseases kill over 6 million people each year, and the numbers are growing.
In 2006, the Global Fund had committed US$ 5.5 billion in 132 countries to support aggressive interventions against all three diseases.”
Global Alliance Vaccine Initiative (GAVI)
GAVI aims to help the poorest countries access to vaccines. Almost one child in four is not immunized whereas 2 to 3 million children die every year from easily prevented infectious diseases.
GAVI is a public-private partnership which includes governments, UNICEF, WHO, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The World Bank, the vaccine industry, research institutions and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
Stop TB
The Stop TB Partnership was established in 2000 to eliminate tuberculosis which kills 1.7 million people each year. It comprises a network of international organizations, donors from the public and private sectors, governments and NGOs with the common goal of eradicating tuberculosis.
Roll Back Malaria
The Roll Back Malaria initiative was launched in 1998 by WHO, UNICEF, UNDP and the World Bank. The partnership comprises international organizations, donors from the public and private sectors, NGOs, research institutes and malaria-endemic countries. Its target is to halve malaria deaths in the world by 2010.
UNAIDS
This partnership comprises 10 United Nations organizations and coordinates their response to global HIV/AIDS issues. A total of over 75 countries are concerned by UNAIDS interventions.
UNITAID
This initiative was launched by Brazil, Chile, France and Norway in 2006 to set up an international drug purchase Facility to lower the cost of drugs for developing countries. Through an international solidarity contribution on plane tickets the countries will benefit from additional financing, mainly to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Partners
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Health Organization is a United Nations institution founded in 1948 with the goal of “the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health”. The World Health Assembly is composed of 192 member states. WHO is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, setting norms and standards and provides technical and financial support to developing countries. For 2006-2007 its total budget stands at US$ 3.3 billion.
UNICEF
UNICEF, United Nation Children’s Fund, has been working in 155 countries since 1946 “for the protection of children’s rights, education for boys and girls, health, vaccination, nutrition, water, hygiene and sanitation”. It is moreover the world’s first supplier of vaccines for developing countries. Its budget in 2005 was close to US$ 2.7 billion.
World Bank
The World Bank is a major actor in the health sector. It granted US$ 1.26 billion in loans in 2005. It has allocated huge amounts to HIV/AIDS (US$1.5 billion have been committed to date for the fight against HIV/AIDS) and malaria (US$ 500 million will be allocated to the Malaria Booster Control Program between 2005 and 2008) and recommends the strengthening of health systems on a country level within the framework of a harmonised sector approach.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Health is one of the four pillar sectors where the Gates foundation operates. The foundation allocates US$ 750 million to the health sector and has defined 5 priorities for its actions: AIDS, tuberculosis and reproductive health, communicable diseases, global health-related technologies, strategies to adopt for global health and support to global health.