- Situation Overview
Global cases: 462,684 confirmed. Global deaths: 20,834 (as of 26 March). The Extraordinary
G20 Leaders’ Summit Statement on COVID-19 announced US$5 trillion to fight COVID-19. United Nations launched a US$2 billion COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan to support the world’s most vulnerable countries. WHO launched the Information Network for Epidemics (EPI-WIN) website www.who.int/epi-win to provide timely, accurate, and easy-to- understand advice and information. The Global Fund is coordinating with the WHO, which is leading the global response. Please see WHO Coronavirus Situation Reports for detailed updates on the global response.
- Global Fund COVID-19 Response
The Global Fund issued new guidance to provide flexibility for countries to use up to 5% of approved grants to fight COVID-19 and to mitigate the potential consequences of the pandemic on existing programs to fight HIV, TB and malaria.
- Funding has been approved for 24 countries and one regional grant (32 individual decisions) for a total of US$18 million. The 24 countries include: Afghanistan, Albania, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, El Salvador, Eritrea, Georgia, Honduras, India, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Moldova, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Rwanda, and Ukraine. The regional grant in West Africa covers border screening and passenger tracing in five countries along the Abidjan- Lagos corridor.
- More requests are being prepared and reviewed; expect decisions on 27 March of at least another US$5 million.
- Business Contingency Planning for Existing Global Fund Grants
The Business Contingency Planning focuses on protecting the Global Fund’s ability to deliver its core mission, prioritizing the continued delivery of impact from the current grant cycle and the development of funding requests and grants to deliver maximum impact in the 2020-2022 allocation period.
- 2020-2022 Allocations: Window 1
- 23 March was the deadline for “Window 1” of funding requests submitted by Country Coordinating Mechanisms for the 2020-2022 allocation period. Positively, 51 funding requests out of 57 anticipated funding requests were submitted on time, representing more than $4 billion in allocation funds. The Technical Review Panel will be conducting the Window 1 review remotely and will have virtual plenaries to assess these submissions and make recommendations for grant-making and implementation.
- Operational Guidance for Countries
- The Global Fund is adapting processes for current grants and will share guidance notes as they are developed. The first topics will include: disbursements, supply chain and reporting.
- A detailed Q&A is being developed to explain the different areas of flexibilities and updates on operational activities including: future Funding Request submissions, CCMs, Supply Chain, and others.
- An Operational Update e-mail with the changes will be distributed the week of 30 March.
- COVID-19 Impact on HIV, TB, Malaria, Communities, Rights and Gender
- Global Fund technical guidance is being developed for malaria, TB, HIV and RSSH.
- WHO Technical Guidanceavailable here.
- Procurement and Supply Chain
- As of 24 March 2020, the Global Fund’s product and delivery outlook shows the overall impact of COVID-19 on health product supply chains for Global Fund grants in the immediate term as low to moderate. The impact rating will be updated as things evolve.
- While initial manufacturing closures of key suppliers in China are largely resolved, logistics challenges worldwide remain. We are exploring mitigation measures to ensure timely delivery to the extent possible. We are closely monitoring how governments, including India, respond to COVID-19 and the impact this may have on supply.
- We are assessing potential delays for all Pooled Procurement Mechanism orders. As of 27 March, 10% of orders face delays of more than 30 days. We are working with Principal Recipients and Country Teams to review mitigation plans and adapt lead times to minimize disruption.
- We are keeping track of the approval status and working with manufacturers of several COVID-19 diagnostics should the possibility of procuring these products with Global Fund funding for these products become available.
- Messaging and Advocacy
- COVID-19 Key Messages and Talking Points: updated regularly.
- Media and Communications
- Rethinking Global Health Security, By Peter Sands, The Global Fund, 27 March 2020
- When Finance Fails: Why Economists Didn’t See a Coronavirus Collapse Coming, By Peter Sands, Barron’s, 25 March 2020
- What fight against tuberculosis can teach us about fighting COVID-19, By Peter Sands, Reuters Foundation, 23 March 2020
- COVID-19 Threatens the Poor and Marginalized More than Anyone, by Peter Sands, LinkedIn, 4 March 2020.
- External Coordination
- The Global Fund continues to work closely with WHO and global health partners at global, regional and country levels on COVID-19 preparedness and response, particularly key issues such as supply chain, technical guidance and in-country coordination.
- The Global Fund is closely collaborating with numerous governments and organizations including the World Bank; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; many UN agencies; the Africa CDC; as well as private sector manufacturers, to advance a global response.
- Partners in the Global Action Plan are sharing information on respective policies. The sustainable finance accelerator working group has collected overview of funding opportunities for COVID-19 at the request of WHO emergency team.
- In collaboration with the Global Fund’s IT team, the Private Sector Engagement team is discussing with possibilities with our technology partners about potential support for access to networks, capabilities to work remotely and facilitating ways of working.