Venezuela

RÉSUMÉ Le Venezuela n’était pas admissible au financement du Fonds mondial, parce qu’il était un pays à revenu élevé et à faible charge de morbidité. À titre exceptionnel, le Conseil d’administration du Fonds mondial a versé des ressources pour soutenir la population du Venezuela. Grâce à un investissement modeste et intelligent – en partenariat avec la société civile – le Fonds mondial sauve les vies de plus de 40 000 personnes vivant avec le VIH au Venezuela.

ABSTRACT Several Venezuelan civil society organizations (CSOs) expressed concern about the lack of participation of CSOs in writing the malaria funding request for the 2020–2022 cycle. The Global Fund Secretariat responded, saying that Venezuela is a challenging operating environment and is managed under the Additional Safeguards Policy, which allows the Secretariat to make those decisions. Nevertheless, the Secretariat stated that it engaged the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations (ICASO), an international CSO, to consult CSOs and included their inputs in the funding request.

ABSTRACT Eight months after the Global Fund Board approved an unprecedented $5-million donation for ARV procurement and community monitoring in Venezuela, a new update report from ICASO and ACCSI documents a deteriorating social, political and economic situation in the country. Challenges with the rollout of the Global Fund donation are linked to obstacles in the supply chain and distribution, some politically motivated. The organizations call on the Global Fund to scale up investments that respond to human rights-related barriers to access and to assess the impact of Venezuela’s crisis on neighbouring countries, particularly for malaria.

ABSTRACT The 41st Board Meeting of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria held in May 2019 was an opportunity for the organization to pledge its commitment and support to the LAC region, where $2.2 billion has already been invested to date to fight the three diseases. Investments include technical assistance to build resilient health system infrastructures in 36 countries in the continent, while maintaining an emphasis on co-financing commitments to cover key transition risks that include uptake of services for key populations. A member of the Latin America and Caribbean delegation to the Board offers his perspective.

ABSTRACT The Global Fund Board, responding to a proposal developed by the Secretariat in consultation with partners and civil society, has approved an exceptional $5.0 million donation to Venezuela as a “short-term humanitarian response” to the economic and health crisis in that country. The bulk of the funds will go to the purchase of ARVs. The rest will support civil society organizations to provide oversight and monitoring of the delivery of ARVs to patients. The funding is exceptional, as it is the first time Venezuela is receiving Global Fund support, and because the support is a ‘donation’ rather than a grant.

ABSTRACT The Board has acknowledged that there might be a circumstance where the Global Fund will want to provide support to a non-eligible country experiencing a health crisis (e.g. Venezuela). The Board tasked the Secretariat with preparing proposals for countries in this situation and said that the proposals will have to describe how the support would be funded. The Board is concerned about the potential impact on programs in eligible countries if the Fund supports non-eligible countries in crisis. The Secretariat appears frustrated with how this issue has been handled up to now.

ABSTRACT The Board’s Implementer Group called on donors to follow the example of Japan and contribute funding for the people of Venezuela through an existing funding mechanism – the Strategic Fund managed by the Pan American Health Organization. The group also called on the Global Fund to continue to explore concrete mechanisms to support efforts to address this unprecedented health crisis, and to develop a more proactive and effective approach to countries in crisis.

ABSTRACT A new report from ICASO and Acción Ciudadana Contra el SIDA describes an unprecedented, state-made, complex humanitarian emergency in Venezuela and calls on the Global Fund to lead a regional response. The report states that the delegations to the Global Fund Board from civil society and Latin American and the Caribbean have continued to press the Fund to find a way to channel resources to Venezuela, but have been met with roadblocks at every turn. This article includes a comment from Aidspan.

ABSTRACT Activists have been sounding the alarm for years about what they perceive as systematic neglect of Latin America and the Caribbean by the Global Fund, Kataisee Richardson says in this commentary. Several countries have been successful in bringing down infection and mortality rates for the three diseases, she writes, but these successes obscure the disparities, gaping inequality and heterogeneity of the region.

ABSTRACT The Global Fund Board has called for a coordinated regional response to the health crisis in Venezuela. The Board expressed continued concern “about the resurgence of malaria, shortages of critical commodities for HIV and TB, and the broader health crisis in Venezuela and its impact on the region.”