Press release
This year, France is showcasing strong commitment to the global health cause. On 10 October 2019, in Lyon, it will be hosting the Sixth Replenishment Conference of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which aims to raise at least US$14 billion for funding its programmes between 2021 and 2023. It is also chairing the G7, including a ministerial health meeting in May 2019, as well as the diplomacy and health group.
This mobilization is taking place amid doubts over the achievement of the sustainable development goals, on the one hand, and of the pledge to end HIV by 2030 on the other. It is already clear that the UNAIDS targets for 2020 will not be achieved, especially in West and Central Africa. Despite the progress made, access to high-quality prevention, screening and treatment services remains insufficient and bottlenecks within health systems and human rights violations are compounding the difficulties.
Against this backdrop, the French National AIDS & Viral Hepatitis Council (CNS) has vowed to address the challenges involved in the global fight against HIV/AIDS and, more specifically, France’s goals. In an initial Position paper, the CNS sets out four recommendations for the public authorities’ attention in order to bolster France’s investment ahead of the G7 ministerial health meeting and in the run-up to the conference in Lyon.
France must scale up its three-year contribution to the Global Fund, in keeping with the increase in its official development aid, and attract new funders to the cause. In return, France must ask the Global Fund for clarifications on its investment case and commitments to progress towards a more cross-cutting, integrated and coordinated approach at international level. More broadly, together with its partners, especially those in Europe, France must raise the profile of its priorities and further assert its influence within the global health agenda.
Contact
Julien Bressy, Communication officer
+33140566852 | +33635268571 | julien.bressy@sante.gouv.fr
