Opening remarks

 

Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
 

I would like welcome you all to this regional training workshop on proposal development for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. I would like to extend my thanks to our colleagues from WHO headquarters for coming here to support us, as well as to the Global Fund Secretariat team whose presence is crucial to the success of the workshop. Also, I would like to express our appreciation for the support provided by the UNAIDS Regional Support Team and Country Coordination Officers. I welcome as well our colleagues from UNICEF who are attending the training and will be involved in supporting their country teams in preparation of the Global Fund proposals. 
 

The three diseases we are discussing today, namely HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, constitute very important public health and development problems in the Region. Although the HIV epidemic in the majority of the countries is still low, nevertheless, the Region is experiencing relatively fast growth in HIV infection rates. Two countries are already at the generalized epidemic stage while others are showing alarming epidemiological figures or prevalence of behavioural risks. In spite of good progress in DOTS implementation, tuberculosis is still prevalent in the Region. Eight countries of the Region have high incidence of tuberculosis; and even in countries with low tuberculosis incidence, the epidemiological situation is sometimes destabilized by various factors. Malaria has been eliminated from most of the countries of the Region, however, six are still suffering its negative health, social and economic consequences. Malaria programmes are still facing the challenge of lack of necessary human capacity and financial resources.
 

The Global Fund is the main source of funding for the countries in their fight against the three diseases. To date, it has made available more than 216 million US dollars for the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, to be spent within the coming two years; and this amount will eventually increase with more countries starting phase II of the grants and more countries applying for future grants.
 

WHO has always been committed to supporting countries in improving and scaling up their responses to health problems in general and to HIV, tuberculosis and malaria in particular. Recognizing the importance of the Global Fund for making financial resources available to the countries, WHO has invested in assisting countries to develop their proposals, as well as in implementation of approved ones.
 

In addition to supporting countries to mobilize and maintain the Global Fund resources, the WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean has been keen to improve regional participation in the governance of the Global Fund. It has supported representatives of the Region to attend and briefed them on major issues to enable them to contribute to the Global Fund Board meetings. The Regional Office has also encouraged scientists and experts from the Region to apply to the membership of the Technical Review Panel to ensure proper uncerstanding of the specificities of our Region.
 

Countries, Global Fund, WHO, UNAIDS and other partners have been working together for the benefit of populations infected and affected by HIV, tuberculosis or malaria. A lot has been done, but we can do more.
 

Dear colleagues,
 

The 6th call for proposals to the Global Fund, which was recently announced, is a golden opportunity for us to further scale-up our fight against these diseases.
 

Last year during the 5th calls for proposals, our Region was not very successful in the proposals submitted to the Global Fund. Out of 22 proposals submitted, only 5 were approved. This should be different in the 6th round, and a lot more countries should receive approval for their funding. Time is running on while new people are getting infected and those who are affected are suffering more.
 

With this workshop, we hope that we can contribute to the success of your proposals in the current round. The workshop will explain to you, with the help of the Global Fund secretariat team, the details of the proposal. Moreover, I assure you that our support is not limited to this. In coordination with UNAIDS/MENA, WHO/EMRO will continue providing you with further support as needed until your proposals are submitted on time.

Finally, I wish you a successful workshop and further beyond, I wish you success in your proposals as well as a pleasant stay in Cairo.
 

 

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Meetings and events Regional meetings Training courses Conferences Tunis, Tunisia, 7-9 May 2007