South Sudan, Global Fund sign 167 mln USD funding agreement to fight HIV/AIDS
The South Sudan government together with the Global Fund on Wednesday signed funding agreement totaling 167 million U.S dollars to fight tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS over the next three years from 2024 to 2026.
Hussein Abdelbagi Akol, the Vice President for Service Cluster said that the grant from the Global Fund will cover the cost for treating tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria.
“This significant grant provided by the Global Fund represents a vital step forward in our collective efforts to combating tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and Malaria. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Global Fund for their unwavering commitment in improving the global health and for their generous support with this grant,” Akol said during the signing ceremony in Juba, capital of South Sudan.
Boniface Njenga, the Senior Fund Portfolio Manager for the Global Fund said that the grant under the Global Fund strategy for 2023-2028, seeks to mobilize resources to ease the global burden of treating tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria.
“This grant comes as a result of our partnership to accelerate progress towards our vision of a world free of the burden of tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria with better and equitable health for all,” Njenga said.
Russell Armstrong, the Project Coordination Advisor for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in South Sudan said that the youngest nation has made significant progress in the fight against tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria.
“As the world continues to be faced by many challenges including the ongoing epidemics of TB, HIV/AIDS and Malaria, it is clear that the government and particularly the ministry of health have made significant efforts to manage these challenges,” Armstrong said.
Jane Alphonse, the Chairperson for the Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) that partners with the South Sudan ministry of health said that there is need to mobilize more resources to support the national response to tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria.
“The gap is still huge, it is not enough to cover the three diseases, there is still need for more resources,” Alphonse said.
