UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network / 30 July 2008 -- The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria last month announced that it will launch a second call for proposals in 2008, inviting countries burdened by the three diseases to submit additional requests for funding. It will be the ninth round of funding since the Global Fund’s creation in 2002, and it is only the second time that two calls for proposals have been launched in the course of a single year.

The new funding round will open on 1 October 2008 and the Board of the Global Fund is expected to approve new grants under this round at its Board Meeting in May 2009. Round 9 will be supplementing Round 8 which was launched in March this year. Round 8’s submission deadline was 1 July.

Demand for this additional round of funding arises from the growing impact of country-led AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria programs, and recognition that an additional opportunity to access funding this year further supports the rapid scale-up of in-country efforts to reduce the burden of the three diseases.

“Two funding rounds in one year confirms the Global Fund’s ability to respond quickly and appropriately to countries’ demands”, said Dr Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “These additional resources could pay for a large increase in insecticide-impregnated bed nets against malaria and a continued expansion of programs to treat and prevent AIDS and tuberculosis.”

Round 9 also provides the opportunity for countries to resubmit, six months earlier than usual, proposals that may have been rejected under Round 8. Round 9 will not replace the funding round scheduled for 2009; the Round 10 call for proposals is preliminarily scheduled for April 2009.

To expedite the process, the same proposal form and guidelines that were issued for Round 8 will also be used in Round 9. The submitted proposals will first be screened for eligibility and completeness by the Secretariat and are then forwarded to an independent Technical Review Panel (TRP), which assesses them for technical merit and consistency. Proposals that have been rejected in Round 8 and that are resubmitted in Round 9 will only be screened for completeness and will then be forwarded to the TRP. The Board approves programs that are recommended for funding by the technical review panel; initially for a two year period, with an option to renew funding for a second three-year phase if the programs achieve targeted results.

"Round 8, which is already underway, and Round 9 will provide the opportunity for countries to expand upon the considerable progress we are already seeing against the three diseases”, said Rajat Gupta, Chair of the Global Fund Board. "Donors have provided more than US$3 billion for additional programs for 2008 and 2009 combined and their generosity brings hope to millions of people around the globe who will benefit from the prevention and treatment activities that the Global Fund will support financially."

Just like for Round 8, proposals submitted should be based on a comprehensive needs assessment – including efforts to scale up access to key prevention services for the three diseases through both public and non-public implementers.

To help applicants in proposal preparation, the Global Fund has created an online “Call for Proposals” Forum on http://myglobalfund.org/ to supplement the information provided directly from the Secretariat. The website provides applicants with the opportunity to benefit from real-time questions and answers and to share lessons learned regarding proposal development.

Guidelines and proposal forms are available on the Global Fund's website, www.theglobalfund.org.

Since its creation in 2002, he Global Fund has become the main source of finance for programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, with approved funding of US$ 10.7 billion for more than 550 programs in 136 countries. So far, programs supported by the Global Fund have averted more than 2 million deaths by providing AIDS treatment for 1.4 million people, TB treatment for 3.3 million people, and by distributing 46 million insecticide-treated bed nets for the prevention of malaria worldwide.

***

The Global Fund is a unique global public/private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities represents a new approach to international health financing. The Global Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organizations to supplement existing efforts dealing with the three diseases.

The Global Fund provides more than 20 percent of international funding to fight AIDS, as well as two-thirds of international funding to fight tuberculosis and three quarters of the international funding against malaria.

For more information, please contact: 

Jon Liden, Head, Communications - Office: +41 22 791 17 23; Mobile: +41 79 244 60 06; email: jon.liden@theglobalfund.org 

Nicolas Demey, Communications Officer - Office: +41 22 791 59 97; Mobile: +41 79 504 21 34; email: nicolas.demey@theglobalfund.org 

Labels: United Nations, U.N., MaximsNews, MaximsNewsGlobalHealth, Global Fund to Fight AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria, HIV, Tuberculosis, TB, Malaria,  Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, Insecticide-Treated Bed Nets, ITNs, Rajat Gupta

 

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