USA pledges $3.5 billion emergency investment to Global Fund to fight COVID-19

As part of the USA’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act that cleared its final congressional hurdle Wednesday, and President Joe Biden signed off on Thursday, $3.5 billion is earmarked for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This supplements the Global Fund’s annual funding and will go through State Department global health funding.

Reacting to the announcement, the Global Fund said it “applauds the US government for approving emergency funding for the Global Fund’s effort to fight the COVID-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income countries.” This unprecedented support will rapidly accelerate the Global Fund’s response to the pandemic, which is critical to save lives and protect the gains its partnership has made against HIV, TB and malaria over the last two decades.

In the last year, COVID-19 has caused widespread disruption to HIV, TB and malaria service delivery. The Global Fund’s COVID-19 response is mitigating the impact of the crisis on the three diseases, protecting health workers and reinforcing health systems.