The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria launched its Round 10 call for proposals on May 20. Round 10 gives countries around the world another opportunity to utilize the Global Fund to support health systems strengthening (HSS) and build health systems that can tackle AIDS, TB, and malaria, as well as provide better overall healthcare for all.To this end, PHR, the Health Workforce Advocacy Initiative (HWAI), and the USAID-funded Health Systems 20/20 have just released a toolkit that provides information and tips to applicants on how to use Global Fund to support HSS in Round 10. The Global Fund has great potential to support health workforce and other health system strengthening activities. Countries are increasingly taking advantage of the Fund’s possibilities. In Round 7 (in 2007), countries secured at least $186 million for HSS over the first two years of Global Fund grants approved that Round. By Round 9, which concluded last year, the two-year total had nearly doubled to $363 million.Despite these gains, the current level of HSS grants still represents only a fraction of what countries might collectively secure from the Global Fund. The Fund supports HSS activities needed to improve AIDS, TB, and/or malaria outcomes specifically, but these activities can—and often do—impact entire health systems. Programs such as training new health workers and deploying them to rural areas, educating people on their health-related rights, rehabilitating health facilities, and improving drug distribution systems will not only help People Living with AIDS but will also benefit expectant mothers, sick children, people with diabetes—indeed, the health of the whole community.Our advice in approaching the Fund for HSS grants is to be creative, be bold, and be consistent with your country’s national health policies and strategies. You can read about some of the most ambitious Round 9 HSS-related proposals in the toolkit, as well as some significant investments in the health workforce from earlier rounds.Since Round 6, PHR has developed and published our own guides to using the Global Fund to support health workforce strengthening and HSS . The Round 10 toolkit includes a short reference guide (pdf) that answers frequently asked questions about the Global Fund, PHR’s Guide to Using Round 10 of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to Support Health Systems Strengthening (pdf), as well as other material focused on the Global Fund and HSS, including documents on developing rights-based approaches to health workforce and health systems strengthening, a list of technical support providers, and more.Have a look. If you have contacts in countries that are eligible for Global Fund support, let them know about the toolkit and the opportunity the Global Fund presents. And if you work in one of these countries, talk to your colleagues and your Country Coordinating Mechanism members (available through the Global Fund’s website) about incorporating HSS into a Round 10 proposal. This Round of the Global Fund represents an opportunity for strengthening health systems not to be missed!
