Geneva – The Global Fund to combat AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) has reached a historic milestone by procuring first-line HIV treatments manufactured in Africa. Life-saving, quality antiretroviral drugs (ARVs), known as TLD (Tenofovir, Lamivudine, and Dolutegravir), were pre-qualified by the World Health Organization, sourced from major Kenyan drug companies and delivered to Mozambique. The volume supplied can handle over 72,000 people per year in the country.
“This historic milestone underscores the Global Fund’s strong commitment to promoting regional manufacturing and capacity building,” said Hui Yang, Global Fund’s Head of Supply Business. “By promoting Africa-based production, we are enhancing supply security and expanding access to quality-preserving, affordable health products across the continent, contributing to global health safety.”
The Global Fund is working with partners such as the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa), the African Regional Economic Community, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, and Unitade, to build regional capacity for manufacturing and procurement in Africa. In particular, the Global Fund sources essential medicines, such as several antimalarial drugs, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, and joint trimoxazole from Africa-based manufacturers, in line with quality assurance requirements.
“We are pleased to announce that we are committed to providing support for our global funds,” said Mark Eddington, Grants Director for Global Funds. “We look forward to deepening our collaboration with the African Health Products manufacturing sector.”
Through the NextGen Market Shaping Approach (Download in English | Español | Français | Italiano | Português), the Global Fund is working closely with its partners to support the introduction of new health products, building capacity for local production and sourcing, and implementing interventions to promote sustainable supply chains and capacity strengthening at the global and community level. The first regional manufacturing focus is to support Africa’s capacity building. This is because there is the biggest gap between the large demand and the available supply of quality-health products.
