How the Global Fund is Responding to COVID-19

The Omicron variants are causing a massive surge in COVID-19 infections across the globe. Everyone, no matter where they live, should have access to COVID-19 vaccines as well as public health tools like PPE, diagnostic tests, oxygen and other therapies. In an op-ed, Executive Director of the Global Fund Peter Sands writes, “beating COVID-19 will take a sustained and comprehensive response, combining vaccines, tests, treatments and PPE.”

With U.S. and other donors support, the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism is strengthening national COVID-19 responses while protecting life-saving AIDS, TB and malaria programs. Through grants, the Global Fund is supplying essential health products like diagnostic tests, PPE and medical oxygen.


A Rapid and Effective Response

As of November , the Global Fund has approved over $4.4 billion in COVID-19 funding in three major areas of impact. Read the Global Fund’s latest press release:

76% Reinforcing national COVID-19 response

15% Mitigating COVID-19 impact on HIV, TB and malaria programs

12% Making urgent improvements to health and community systems to help fight COVID-19

Learn more about these three categories

Funding by Health Products (July 2022)

Approximately 67% of the Global Fund’s COVID-19 response funding is allocated to health products.

$799 million in funding for diagnostic tests and laboratory surveillance
$566 million in funding for oxygen products and therapeutics
$616 million in funding for PPE with 79 countries using  wambo.org to purchase PPE


A Far Reaching Global Response

The Global Fund is moving rapidly to deploy COVID-19 response funds in over 105 countries and 14 multi-country programs around the world.

See the data.


Broad Donor Support

Over 10 countries have contributed to the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism. As of December 2021, the Global Fund has awarded over 95% of contributions.


How Countries Are Using COVID-19 Support from the Global Fund


Champions in Zimbabwe who work with their community to prevent gender-based violence (Copyright:National AIDS Council)

Zimbabwe uses Global Fund’s COVID-19 grants to strengthen programs to address gender-based violence

Lockdowns during the pandemic have left young women and girls at increased risk of violence at home. In, Zimbabwe, prevention clinics called One Stop Centers partnered with faith groups to adapt mobile clinics to reach survivors of gender-based violence. Read More

The Philippines integrates TB services with COVID-19 testing to shore up progress on TB

Supported by the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism, the Philippines has successfully integrated mass TB screening at COVID-19 testing sites and vaccination locations to reach as many people as possible. Read More

TB testing site in the Philippines (Copyright: PBSP ACCESS TB Project)
A mother and child visit a health center. (Copyright: The Global Fund/ Andrew Esiebo/ Panos)

HIV and TB Infrastructure Support Nigeria’s COVID-19 Response:

Investments by the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism nearly quadrupled Nigeria’s laboratory sites and expanded oxygen capacity. Dr. Gambo Aliyu, the director-general of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, highlights a key lesson from Nigeria’s COVID-19 response, stating, “above all, what we have learned that works is the integration of services. Community health workers went door-to-door, offering COVID-19, HIV and TB services.” Read More

Uganda’s rapid COVID-19 response

Since March 2021, The Global Fund disbursed over $51 million alongside over $10 million of grant saving in Uganda to respond to COVID-19 “to rapidly adapt existing HIV, TB and malaria programs, purchase personal protective equipment (PPE) for front-line health workers, diagnostics and medical supplies and to deploy prevention campaigns.” As of July 2021, the Global Fund has delivered 2.5 million diagnostic tests and nearly 600 thousand PCR tests to Uganda. Read More

A scientist studies specimens at the National TB Reference Lab in Kampala. (Copyright: The Global Fund /Jiro Ose)

Socially- distant HIV prevention sessions for adolescent girls and young women (Credit: CANGO/Kideo Nhlabatsi)

Adapting HIV services during Eswatini’s lockdown

During recent COVID-19 lockdowns in Eswatini, the Global Fund’s COVID-19 Response Mechanism ensured that adolescent girls and young women at risk of HIV infection continued to access HIV prevention programs. Through grants, the Global Fund helped partners like CANGO adapt their risk reduction programs online to ensure that young women and adolescent girls continued to receive essential HIV prevention support remotely. Read More

Ambulances and emergency supplies donated to Malawi during Delta variant surge

Malawi faces a surge of COVID-19 infections, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant. In July 2021, the Global Fund and Gavi donated ambulances, motorcycles and medical equipment to Malawi’s government in order to bolster the national COVID-19 response and mitigate disruption of HIV, TB and malaria programs. Read More

Ambulance keys are handed over to Catholic nuns who are treating local COVID-19 patients (Credit: Watipaso Mzungu, Nyaso Times)

Oxygen for India

Since May 2021, the Global Fund has approved $75 million for emergency oxygen concentrators and Pressure Swing Adsorption oxygen plants as India experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases that overwhelmed health systems. Read More

COVID-19 is causing a devastating oxygen crisis in low and middle income countries. Read More

Learn more