Originally posted on theglobalfund.org

GENEVA – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has approved US$30 million to top up its Emergency Fund, including US$15 million to support the continuity of HIV and TB prevention, testing and treatment services in Ukraine. This is on top of the US$119.4 million allocated to Ukraine to support the fight against HIV and TB in the country over the 2020-2022 period, and of the US$46.6 million granted for the COVID-19 response since the pandemic broke out.

“We are extremely alarmed by the devastating effects on peoples’ lives in Ukraine,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “Ensuring patients affected by the conflict can continue to access prevention and treatment services is our immediate priority.”

Over the last 20 years, the Global Fund has invested more than US$850 million in Ukraine for HIV and TB testing, prevention and treatment programs and to fight COVID-19 by protecting front-line workers and reinforcing systems for health.

Despite remarkable achievements in combatting HIV and TB in recent years, Ukraine has the second largest HIV epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and remains one of the high-priority countries to fight TB in the region.

The Global Fund’s Emergency Fund is designed to support countries when disasters, conflicts or other emergencies are impacting the provision of HIV, TB or malaria treatment and prevention or other health services.

The newly approved additional emergency funds also aim to respond to the negative impact on other Global Fund-supported health programs, including disruptions caused by the conflict in Ethiopia’s northwestern Tigray region and by Tropical Cyclone Ana in Malawi and Mozambique. 

In 2021, the Global Fund approved nearly US$16 million in emergency funding to ensure the continued availability of essential prevention and treatment services in Afghanistan and Haiti.