Coalition calls for more health funding as govt probes GFATM grant

A coalition of Nigerian-based health NGOs has called on the Federal Government to safeguard the achievements of the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria (GFATM) by finding the fund’s misappropriated money, blocking loopholes to prevent further underhand dealings in donor funds management and committing adequate local funding to TB, HIV/AIDS and Malaria.

In a statement jointly signed on behalf of the coalition by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Ms. Oluwakemi Gbadamosi, Good Health Educators Initiative, Ibrahim Umoru, and Projekthope, Steve Aborisade, the GFATM has provided HIV care and treatment to 750,000 Nigerians, treated 310,000 TB cases and ensured 93.4 million mosquito nets were in the hands of Nigerian families.

“If countries fail to fund AIDS, TB and Malaria with treatment and services not scaled up rapidly by 2020 (a period of four years time), it could result in 21 million deaths and an additional 28 million people becoming infected with HIV by 2030. If this were to happen, the world would have to pay an additional $24 billion every year for antiretroviral therapy by 2030.

“Nigeria is indeed important, and in fact is responsible for the volume of Global Fund’s grant to the country over the years. The country accounts for 24 per cent of the global disease burden of malaria, the largest in the world, nine per cent of the global HIV disease burden, the second-largest; and seven per cent of the TB burden, also world second-largest.

“With Nigeria heavy dependent on donor funding for the treatment, prevention and care of TB, Malaria and HIV/AIDS, we deem it as our collective responsibility to ensure that funds are applied with utmost responsibility in advancing spelt out objectives of treatment, care and support programmes, and to this we are fully committed to helping our country reach a safety net. This coalition is simply saying that as we ‘find the Fund; we must also fund the Fund.’”