Canada announces $1B for Global Fund to fight infectious diseases

Canada will contribute just over $1 billion over three years to the Global Fund to fight infectious diseases in the world's poorest countries.

Cindy Termorshuizen, Prime Minister Mark Carney's personal representative at the G20 summit in South Africa, made the announcement Friday in Johannesburg ahead of Carney's arrival at the summit.

The Global Fund helps fight diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Canada has supported the fund since its inception in 2002.

Its programs distribute mosquito nets to protect populations from malaria and provide medication and treatments to people living with HIV and tuberculosis.

The new contribution is $190 million lower than Canada's last contribution to the Global Fund, announced in 2022. That $1.21 billion contribution over three years represented a 30 per cent increase in Canada's contribution at the time.

A media statement from The ONE Campaign, an organization that advocates for global investment in programs to support Africa, described the announcement as "a sharp break" from past increases in Canadian support for the Global Fund.

“This cut signals a retreat just as the path to an AIDS-free generation is in sight. It is the wrong move at the wrong time,” Justin McAuley, communications director at The ONE Campaign, said in a media statement.

The fund's eighth replenishment summit is being held in tandem with the annual G20 summit in Johannesburg.

Carney is on his way to South Africa for the G20 after meetings with leaders in the United Arab Emirates, which concluded with a promise of $70 billion in investments in Canadian businesses.

Canada's latest pledge to support the Global Fund is scheduled to run from 2027 until 2029.

Picture Courtesy: AP Photo/Themba Hadebe