Mr Jaramillo: the caps will squash Global fund!

From now on the funding will depend on the availability of resources rather than on actual needs. This goes against the Global Fund’s original philosophy: to encourage countries to submit ambitious proposals in order to fully tackle pandemics.
The impact of funding caps will be that the proposals will fit the lowest possible level of funding.

The real amount of resources needed to fully address the pandemics will remain unknown while the donor countries will have a clear conscience and stop caring about the universal access goal, thus abandoned.
“This is cosmetics, a strategy of donor countries to give themselves a clear conscience and to hide the actual needs of poor countries” said Fogue Foguito, Director of Cameroon NGO Positive Generation.

Nevertheless, the significant results that can be observed today all over the world are the fruit of ten years of investment in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; we now know that a greater investment today can save more patients tomorrow. Stepping back now means taking the risk of a worsening of the situation with the cost measured in human lives, and Mr Jamarillo, as Interim Director, will not be there to see the consequences of his actions.

Under pressure from civil society in Washington, Mr Jamarillo had however committed to neither introduce caps nor revisit the option for countries to formulate a demand that fully covers their needs. Now he is unilaterally breaking with the original mantra of the Global Fund, refusing to listen to civil society, who are among the leading stakeholders in the fight. Mr. Jamarillo follows a PR logic; his goal is not to make progress toward universal access to prevention, care and treatment, but to build his reputation as a good administrator. However, the Global Fund is not a bank, it is an instrument – our instrument – aimed at fighting HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria.

This is why we, civil society and patient organizations, call upon our delegates to immediately oppose any funding caps at the next meeting of the Strategy, Investment and Impact Committee (SIIC) of the Global Fund that will take place in Geneva from 24 to 26 October.

Signatories:

ACS/AMO Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo),
Act Up-Paris (France),
Action Contre le Sida (Togo),
ADISS (Cameroon),
AFASO (Cameroon),
AIDES (France),
ALAVI (Burkina Faso),
ALCS (Morocco),
Alternatives Cameroun (Cameroon),
AMEPOUH (Ivory Coast),
ANSS (Burundi),
APCS (Algeria),
ARCAD/SIDA (Mali),
ATL MST/sida, Tunis (Tunisia),
Coalition Plus (International),
Colibri (Cameroon),
Espace Confiance (Ivory Coast),
Espoir Vie-Togo (Togo),
Fondation Femme plus (Democratic Republic of Congo),
Global Health Advocates (France),
GS++ (Tunisia),
International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (International),
ITPC MENA (Middle East North Africa),
AJPC (Congo-Brazzaville),
Manara (Tunisie),
Médecins du Monde (France),
Positive Generation (Cameroon),
PPP Europe (Europe),
RAME (Burkina Faso),
RANEMI (Cameroon),
Renaissance Santé Bouaké (Ivory Coast),
Sidaction (France),
Stop AIDS Campaign (United-Kingdom)