The Campaign

TB33% Campaign aims to engage people affected by TB, civil society, communities, technical partners, and donors to call on the Global Fund as the lead funder for TB programmes around the world to review the Disease Split Allocation formula which is currently at 18% for TB and inequitable. The Campaign is calling for an increase in the Global Fund financing of the TB response to at least get to 33%, emphasizing the high mortality rates, the need for rapid action, and ambitious targets to be achieved by the end of 2022 according to the TB UN HLM targets from 2018, COVID-19 challenges and the limited funding available. With the current 18%, the world will certainly not win the fight against TB and reach the agreed TB (WHO End TB Strategy, Stop TB Global Plan to End TB) targets. Among the three infectious disease responses funded by the Global Fund, TB is responsible for most deaths, but receives least funds. This campaign is timely and much needed for TB if we want to end TB by 2030.

Goal:

  • To End TB

Objective/s

  1. To push for the increase of the Global Fund Allocation to TB from 18% to 33% to make it equitable;
  2. To drive advocacy for the increase in TB financing in order to achieve the TB HLM targets

To work with Donors, Private Sector, Academia, CSOs and Communities change the current policies on the Global Fund disease split and be part of the efforts to articulate end AIDS, TB and malaria (“HTM”) goal

 

Why TB33%?

  • TB is the number one killer among infectious diseases and kills more people than HIV and Malaria put together, yet international funding for TB is half of that for Malaria and 13% of that of HIV.
  • Unlike HIV and Malaria, the Global Fund is the primary mechanisms for external funding for TB, yet it provides only 18% of its resources.
  • In the lives saved estimates of the Global fund, lives saved due to investments in TB is the biggest portion of all lives saved by 3 disease with an estimated 60 million lives were saved through TB diagnosis and treatment between 2000 – 2019. Since 2002, the Global Fund has reduced the number of TRB deaths by 25%.
  • Due to the lack of funds in high burden TB countries, the requests for portfolio optimization funds by TB grants were significant. Of those requests, over 30% of all the portfolio optimization funds were received to TB
  • Per Strategic Performance Report Mid- 2020), TB grants have utilized 97% of their disbursements, but the list of unfunded activities remains high. Similarly, absorptive capacity of TB grants is at 82% and TB-HIV grants is 89%

As a respiratory illness with symptoms similar to COVID-19 not undermining Extra-pulmonary TB, the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on TB has been severe than the impact on HIV or Malaria. As the Global Fund stated in its most recent situation Report, COVID-19 threatens to derail years of progress. Global Fund-supported reported countries significant reduection in TB case notification during COVID-19 lockdowns. The Global Fund’s catalystic fund and strategic initiatives to find 1.5 million more “missing” people with TB every year (against 2015 baseline) in the 13 highest – burden TB countries had seen impressive results in 2019, but progress has been reversed in 2020. In the first two quarters of this year, 500,000 fewer people with TB were notified compared to the same time in 2019, representing a 23% decline in case notification. This leads to an increasing number of “missing” people with TB – people who go undetected, untreated or unreported – who contribute to ongoing transmission of the diesae and the spread of drug-resistant TB, and could die if they do not access lifesaving TB treatment.