The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, at the initiative of Minister Antonio Tajani, will contribute 150 million euro to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to be disbursed between 2026 and 2028. With the announcement of this contribution, made today on the margins of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, Italy reaffirms its leading role in the field of global health.
Thanks to the action of the Global Fund, established on the occasion of the 2001 G8 Summit in Genoa, 70 million lives have so far been saved and the combined death rate from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria has fallen by 63%. Through its inclusive governance and co-financing mechanisms, the Global Fund promotes greater ownership by beneficiary countries, including with a view to strengthening their respective national health systems.
The working methods of the Global Fund are consistent with the approach of the Mattei Plan for Africa, which is based on fair and mutually beneficial partnerships. Health is one of the pillars of the Plan and one of the strategic priorities of Italian Development Cooperation. Thanks to a network of national centres of excellence in the health sector, Italy will continue to involve the “Italian System” in the activities of the Global Fund; part of the contribution announced today is, in fact, intended to finance synergistic and complementary activities of Civil Society Organizations, public institutions and Italian universities.
Italy’s engagement within the Global Fund is complemented by its action to fight communicable diseases through bilateral initiatives, such as support for the Dream Centres of the Sant’Egidio Community, centres of excellence operating in ten African countries and to which Italian Development Cooperation has already allocated substantial contributions in recent years.
