Canada and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was created by the international community in 2002 to dramatically increase resources to fight 3 of the world's most devastating diseases: HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

The Global Fund is a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and people affected by the diseases to support large-scale prevention, treatment and care programs run by local experts in countries and communities most in need. The Global Fund takes a country-led approach, with national governments and local organizations leading program design and implementation.

Since 2002, the Global Fund has saved an estimated 44 million lives.

Despite this progress, there is still much to be done. After COVID-19, tuberculosis is the leading infectious disease killer. Progress on malaria has stalled as a result of the pandemic. Vulnerable groups are still being left behind, as every week, 5,000 adolescent girls and young women are infected with HIV in East and southern Africa.

But, in 2020, tuberculosis killed 1.45 million people, including more than 200,000 people with HIV, and it is estimated that 10 million people fell ill with the disease. Also in 2020, 241 million people contracted malaria, resulting in 627,000 deaths; nearly 690,000 people died of HIV-related illnesses; and 1.75 million people became newly infected with HIV.

Most at risk are women and girls, and key and vulnerable populations, such as men who have sex with men, drug users, sex workers and transgender people, and those who live in poverty. Barriers to human rights prevent millions of people from accessing prevention, treatment and care. Stigma, discrimination, gender inequality, violence and harmful social norms are also denying the most vulnerable people to be able to access to the health care they need.

Canada's support for the Global Fund

Canada has supported the Global Fund since its inception and is its sixth-largest donor. Canada has also been a consistently strong voice on the Global Fund board.

Canada's support of the Global Fund focuses on the following priorities:

• Combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria
• Reduce child mortality
• Improve the health and rights of women and children
• Promote human rights in the context of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the Global Fund's work, with the support of donors like Canada, the Global Fund is working to get back on track to eliminating the diseases.

HIV/AIDS

• 21.9 million people are receiving life-saving antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS
• 8.7 million people were reached in 2020 with HIV prevention programs
• 104 million people were tested for HIV in 2020
• 686,000 HIV-positive pregnant women received antiretroviral drugs preventing HIV transmission to their infants
• 992,000 medical circumcisions were performed to prevent HIV

Tuberculosis

• 4.7 million new cases of infectious tuberculosis were detected and treated in 2020
• 101,100 cases of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis were treated in 2020
• 194,000 children in contact with TB patients received preventable therapy in 2020

Malaria

• 188 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets were distributed to protect families from transmission in 2020
• 259 million people were tested for malaria in 2020
• 9.4 million households were sprayed with insecticide to protect people from malaria in 2020
• 11.5 million pregnant women received preventive therapy in 2020

Related links

• Canada announces a $1.21-billion contribution to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria and additional support to mitigate the impact of COVID-19
• Canada announces increased commitment to Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
• The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria