'Remarkable alignment' of PEPFAR, Global Fund efforts is reason for continued support

Recent global health events -- including the release of PEPFAR's Blueprint for an AIDS-Free Generation (.pdf), the launch of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's new funding model, and the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) evaluation of PEPFAR -- "mak[e] it clear; it is a time of transformation for global health," Deborah Derrick, president of the Friends of the Global Fight Against HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria, writes in the Huffington Post's "The Big Push" blog. "The recent announcements also show how complementary the two organizations are as they pursue the same mission: saving lives," she adds. Derrick says "[t]here are several consistent themes within the Blueprint, the new funding model and the IOM report that confirm the alignment between the organizations," and she describes several of these themes.

Derrick says PEPFAR and the Global Fund are collaborating to ensure complementary funding missions; shifting from emergency response mechanisms to sustainability models; strengthening country ownership; and targeting investments for maximum impact. "Perhaps the most powerful theme coming out of all of these recent events is 'seize the moment,'" she writes, adding, "In other words, we can invest now or we can pay forever." Derrick concludes, "The PEPFAR Blueprint; the Global Fund's new funding model; the IOM report: all are illustrations of the respective organizations' commitment to the constant evolution required to most effectively save lives. They are also examples of the remarkable alignment of these two organizations and a rationale for their continued support" (4/1).