Health: Global Fund Partners With Public Financial Management Experts In Countries To Maximise Impact, Sustain Donor Investments  

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (the Global Fund) has integrated the use of its public financial management (PFM) strategy in the health sector as an enabler to drive sustainability and improve health outcomes in countries as part of its efforts to assist countries in maintaining their health progress.

PFM is a component of the solution for facilitating integration and long-term health system strengthening. This approach ensures that resources are efficiently coordinated, managed, and utilised in order to achieve impact and better health outcomes.

Developing a sustainable approach to health is an ongoing effort. While the concept is well-established, new strategies for sustaining the Global Fund’s investments are emerging as countries develop tailored solutions within their specific contexts, incorporating PFM systems into health resource planning, allocation, and oversight mechanisms.

This is especially true in today’s world, which faces numerous challenges, including acute threats from climate change and geopolitical tensions across multiple regions.

These events have an impact on the Global Fund’s investments, making it even more critical to continue the progress made in the health sector over the last two decades.

“As financial institutions, our efforts begin with improved alignment, planning, and investment among all players, both domestic and external, in order to maximise budget allocation and spending efficiency. We collaborate with various institutions in the PFM ecosystem (such as the World Bank, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the World Health Organisation) to improve our approach’s efficiency,” said Adda Faye, Chief Financial Officer of the Global Fund.

“Improving budget formulation, execution, and scrutiny is critical for improving resource allocation, monitoring progress, and ensuring better value for money in healthcare outcomes. We collaborate with supreme audit institutions all over the world as part of the assurance mechanism for how Global Fund grants are invested to ensure maximum impact, transparency, and oversight,” Faye added.

A diverse and skilled workforce brings new perspectives and solutions, improves financial oversight, and ensures effective health-care resource management. By investing in human development, the Global Fund promotes capacity-building approaches to transparent and efficient public fund management, resulting in long-term economic growth, improved public service delivery, and greater public accountability.

To better adopt its PFM mainstreaming as a sustainability lever, the Global Fund brought together, for the first time, leaders from ministries of finance and health (including Health Planning, Budget Directors, Accountants General, and Auditors General) from 14 countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Lesotho, Malawi, the Philippines, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania, and The Gambia – to bolster country e

The discussions, moderated by Alexis Kamuhire, Rwanda’s Auditor General, allowed for peer learning and alignment on the goal of increasing the use of PFM systems. The participating countries demonstrated a strong commitment to progressive PFM adoption, with each bringing personal contributions and learnings from their own national context. Mr. Kamuhire emphasised throughout the meeting that “unity of purpose, thinking big, and effective country-driven accountability are key elements of a functioning PFM system.”

Countries such as Rwanda, India, and Indonesia have made significant progress in adopting public financial management systems as part of the health delivery value chain, recognising the need for legal, regulatory, and tactical digitalization of government financial management systems with custom-built technological solutions, ownership, and strategies to transition to domestic financing.

Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund, opened the meeting by saying, “Every dollar counts in the fight to end AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.” Global Fund grants can have the greatest impact by improving accountability for public health funds, which will ultimately save more lives. This room’s expertise and dedication will strengthen our PFM systems to meet the Lusaka Agenda’s call for action and progressive adoption.

“From the Global Fund’s perspective, working with you and understanding your challenges as you continue to make progress in your respective country settings is absolutely critical in efforts to improve people’s health and maximise the impact of our programmes,” Sands added.

Faye addressed the delegates present, saying, “We want to work with you in your countries, for your countries.” We are committed to accompanying you on your journey in order to assist you in making long-term progress. We believe that responsible adoption of country systems will contribute to our goal of achieving impact and good health outcomes.

The meeting emphasised PFM’s critical role in ensuring the effective use of donor funds, as well as the importance of collaborative efforts to strengthen financial management systems in the health sector through an actionable roadmap that included a commitment to action, a mindset shift, and an emphasis on accountability and digitalization. The discussions aimed to pave the way for sustainable, transparent, and accountable resource management, with the ultimate goal of improving global health outcomes.