We Fought for What Counts – But the Fight Isn’t Over: A Recap of the Seventh Global Fund Replenishment Conference

In a landmark moment for the fight against malaria, the Seventh Global Fund Replenishment Conference raised a record-breaking $14.25 billion to support countries in the fight against malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Tuberculosis over the next three years.  

While this amount represents the largest-ever pledging total in the Global Fund’s 20-year history, or to any multilateral institution, the pledges announced at Wednesday’s conference fell short of the $18 billion target, a gap that will impact millions of people in malaria-endemic countries.

But that gap could shrink in the coming weeks: the United Kingdom, historically one of the largest donors to the Global Fund, has yet to make its pledge, and neither has Italy. Those two countries combined contribution was nearly $1.9 billion at the previous Replenishment.  

The $18 billion target represents a 30% increase from the previous Replenishment; and 19 of the 38 countries that have pledged so far did in fact increase their contributions by 30% or greater. Excitedly, the Conference included pledges from several new donor countries and a record level of support from the private sector.

The US, which hosted the Conference in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, led the way with a commitment to contribute 33% of the total amount, up to $6 billion. The Administration’s bold pledge (and commensurate funding indications from U.S. Congress) is a testament to the persistent advocacy of our partners and Beat Malaria Champions, who for years have rallied bipartisan Congressional support for the Global Fund and other vital malaria programs. This year alone, our Champions held over 200 meetings with their Congressional offices, helping ensure that the US makes a bold Global Fund pledge that sets a strong example for other countries to follow.  

Reaching the Global Fund’s $18 billion target represents more than just a 30% increase from the previous Replenishment. That increase will save an additional 20 million lives and avert 450 million cases across all three diseases, according to the Global Fund. Further, it will get the world back on track towards eradication of these three diseases after suffering setbacks in recent years.  

In 2020, 627,000 lives were lost to malaria alone, the most deaths due to the disease in a decade and 69,000 more deaths than the year before. The impact of COVID-19, stagnated funding, growing threats of drug and insecticide resistance, and other global challenges continue to threaten decades of hard-won progress against malaria.  

A fully replenished Global Fund is our best hope for launching a new era of progress towards malaria eradication. The Global Fund provides 63% of all global malaria funding and has saved 50 million lives since launching in 2002. In 2021 alone, Global Fund-supported programs:  

• Distributed 133 million mosquito nets 
• Tested 280 million suspected malaria cases 
• Treated 148 million cases of malaria 
• Covered 10.1 million structures with indoor residual spraying 
• Administered preventative malaria treatments to 12.5 million pregnant women    

Learn more about Global Fund’s impact here: the 2022 Results Report. 

To our incredible Champions: we can’t thank you enough for all your relentless advocacy in the lead-up to this pivotal moment, with billions of dollars and millions of lives hanging in the balance. Our work is far from over. President Biden said it best while addressing global leaders at Wednesday’s Conference: “Let’s finish this fight together. Now is the moment to accelerate our efforts, to reduce health inequities, to reduce barriers to access – including gender and human rights barriers – and to build more inclusive health care systems to leave no one behind. To end AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria for good.”