AIDS

This new issue of the GFO is devoted entirely to the 53rd meeting of the Global Fund Board, which took place from May 7 to 9, 2025, in Geneva, revealing a pivotal moment for the institution as it confronts major funding gaps, governance challenges, and the urgent need for reform. From the Executive Director’s call for unity and realism to debates over grant reprogramming, risk management, and ethical oversight, the meeting underscored the fragile balance between ambition and constraint.

Faced with a sharp decline in international aid, growing competing priorities, and an imminent risk of financial crisis, the Global Fund is making budget cuts—postponing certain expenditures related to infrastructure, equipment, and research—to keep its HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria programs running. While COVID-19 response efforts remain untouched for now, other critical initiatives risk delays, legal hurdles, and disruptions, particularly for frontline NGOs and contracted partners. The message is clear: “Protect what matters, adapt to the crisis.” The way forward? “Do more with less, without leaving the most vulnerable behind.” But were there really any unnecessary expenses to begin with? In any case, this new budgetary reality is expected to shape much of the discussion at the 53rd Board Meeting, to be held from May 7 to 9, 2025, in Geneva, Switzerland.

This article analyses the Global Fund’s 2024 OIG Annual Report, which was presented at the 53rd Board Meeting, from May 7 to 9, 2025, in Geneva. The report highlights the Global Fund’s progress amid global uncertainty, identifies key governance-related risks, and calls for bold operational reforms to maximize efficiency and safeguard billions in the fight against HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria.

This article highlights the key points of the Global Fund’s 2023-2028 Strategic Performance Summary Report, which will be presented at the 53rd Board Meeting, scheduled to take place from May 7 to 9, 2025, in Geneva, Switzerland. Without excessive pessimism, the prevailing feeling is a mix of hope and deep concern.

This special issue dedicated to the 53rd Board Meeting, to be held from May 7 to 9, 2025, explores the growing tension between strategic ambitions and budgetary constraints within the Global Fund. Balancing hope, warnings, and ethical dilemmas, it highlights the critical issues that will shape the decisions ahead.

ABSTRACT When the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and malaria was created in 2002, its aim was to provide financial support to developing countries in their battle against the three border-crossing communicable diseases for which treatment and prevention options were available.

ABSTRACT A new study from GNP+, the Global Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS, offers a window into whether people with AIDS are truly playing the participatory role in CCMs that the Fund envisioned.

ABSTRACT The first proper study of the impact of COVID-19 on young people and its impact on their sexual and reproductive wellbeing, including with regard to HIV. While we know that young people have suffered, until now we have lacked the data. This country case study is part of a six-country study and will shed light on the uncounted cost of this pandemic. It is worth keeping an eye out for.

ABSTRACT Professor Alan Whiteside who, following the easing of lockdown is now back in Canada where he is employed by the Balsillie School of Internationala Affairs, muses on the new data and what it means for the world in general, and HIV in particular.

ABSTRACT AIDS advocates warn that given its low disease burden and relatively high GDP, Malaysia may become ineligible for Global Fund support after 2017, imperiling prevention efforts. Especially vulnerable, they say, are those that target MSM.