Eligibility policy

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 only really significant change to the Eligibility Policy adopted by the Board is that there are new metrics and thresholds used to determine TB disease burden. Income levels and disease burden are still the main determinants of whether a country and its components are eligible for funding. The Global Fund will continue to use gross national income per capita as the indicator of economic capacity.

ABSTRACT Eligibility Policy, risk appetite framework and approach to non-eligible countries in crisis (e.g. Venezuela) are some of the items on which the Board is expected to make decisions at its meeting on 9–10 May in Skopje, Macedonia. We provide a preview.

ABSTRACT It is unusual for policies that are still under discussion by committees and the Board to be discussed in public at the instigation of one or more Board delegations. In a blog posted on 28 March, Meg Davis, a consultant to the Developing Country NGO Delegation, the Developed Country NGO Delegation and the Communities Delegation, discusses proposed changes to the Eligibility Policy. Aidspan labeled these discussions “appropriate and useful.” In this article, we provide a summary of the contents of the blog.

ABSTRACT Eastern Europe and Central Asia is one of two regions where planning for the transition away from Global Fund support is most advanced. (The other region is Latin America and the Caribbean.) This article provides an overview of the transition status of HIV, TB and malaria components in EECA countries.

ABSTRACT Some components are currently transitioning from the Global Fund; others are in the “transition preparedness stage.” In this article, we provide a primer. We also discuss a report from ACTION on simultaneous transitions and the changing landscape of global health financing.

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 Seven months after it was approached, the Global Fund rejected a plea for help from the Venezuelan Network of Positive People. The Fund now says that it is seeking to provide some assistance via other agencies. This is a story that is still unfolding.

ABSTRACT Grants from the 2017-2019 allocation period will assist at least 17 components from 13 countries to transition away from Global Fund support. Twelve components will receive what the Fund calls “transition funding” directly.

ABSTRACT Bosnia and Herzegovina will from December 2015 become ineligible for Global Fund financing, presenting a risk to a number of programs that the government has said it may be incapable of finding budgetary resources for. This could have an impact on currently low sero-prevalence rates nationwide, particularly within certain vulnerable populations such as the migrant Roma who live in poverty in informal settlements around the country.