Read the latest news, updates and information on the Private Sector Delegation (PSD), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and its Board.

This edition of the Global Fund PSD Newsletter contains

• Perspectives on a New Strategy for the Global Fund
• Engaging the Global Private Sector: Consultations Held July – Sept 2015
• Perspectives on a New Strategy to Shape Markets for Health Products
• New PSD Focal Point Appointed. Meet the New Focal Point Team
• PSD Task Force Reviews Over $4 Billion in Funding Requests in 2015
• UN Members Adopt New Development Agenda: Highlights from the 70^th UN General Assembly and the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit
• GBCHealth Launches the Health Credit Exchange: An Innovative Financing Mechanism
• Meet the PSD:
  • Jami Taylor, Johnson & Johnson

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Perspective on a New Strategy for the Global Fund

The Private Sector Delegation (PSD) has devoted considerable energy over the past six months to examining and discussing the Global Fund’s 2017-2022 Strategy. These discussions spanned five separate in-person events as well as electronic dialogues. The PSD intentionally carved out designated space within the official strategic consultation process to gather broad private sector-specific input. The PSD collaborated with the Global Fund Secretariat to host a series of private sector consultations between June and August of 2015 and welcomed over 60 private sector representatives to share their input on the development of the next Global Fund Strategy.

The Private Sector was able to incorporate learnings from all of the related events into a revised version of the Fund’s 2017-2022 Draft Strategic Framework for submission to the Policy Hub in September. The PSD was pleased to learn that — as per the Private Sector’s proposed amendments — the Hub separately added language to the Framework highlighting innovation as it relates to facilitating the introduction of health technologies and implementation models. Read more about the PSD’s input to the Strategy here.

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Engaging the Global Private Sector: Consultations Held from July – September 2015

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Perspectives of a New Strategy to Shape Markets for Health Products

The Global Fund is one of the largest producers of health-related commodities in the world, and as a result of this purchasing power, it inevitably shapes the markets in which it operates. As the Fund deliberates a new strategy to guide its operations and investments over the next five years, in November 2015, it will also adopt a new policy which governs its role in shaping these markets. The Private Sector played a key role in the development of the current Market Shaping Strategy (MSS) and has unique insights into the impact of the strategy from perspectives of the delegation’s member companies and other private sector constituents.

With this in mind, the PSD convened a series of consultations in 2015 and provided feedback to the Global Fund on the new MSS. The new strategy, the PSD notes, is an improvement in that it recognized the value of innovation in addressing the three diseases and increasingly focuses on building country capacity to improve procurement processes. However, there remain areas of concern for the Private Sector, notably on striking a balance between consolidating procurement and equipping countries to procure independently and how the MSS will be operationalized within the Fund. Read more to learn about the PSD’s perspective on the new MSS.

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New PSD Focal Point Appointed: Meet the New PSD Focal Point Team

GBCHealth is excited to announce that Cassie Dormond has taken over the role of PSD Focal Point as of August 11, 2015. Cassie brings strong experience working with the private sector and has exposure to the Global Fund through academic work. As Manager and Focal Point leading GBCHealth’s engagement with the PSD, Cassie manages communications with PSD leadership, the Advisory Group, and the broader private sector constituency. In this role, Cassie also collaborates with the Global Fund private sector team, other Board constituencies, and Board Committee leadership to bring private sector perspectives to Global Fund priorities. Cassie replaces Whitney White, who served as Focal Point from July 2012 through July 2015.

Erica Ciaraldi joined the team in July 2015 as a Program Officer, supporting the PSD Focal Point in managing and coordinating the PSD’s representation in all Global Fund fora. Erica provides policy analysis, and supports communications and event management. Erica joins GBCHealth from the Global Health Corps, a fellowship program that connects promising young leaders to organizations working on the frontlines of global health.

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PSD Task Force Reviews Over $4 Billion in Funding Requests in 2015

January 2015 marked approximately one year since the roll-out of the Global Fund’s New Funding Model. Since the beginning of the year, the Global Fund Board has approved 149 concept notes totaling US$3.92 billion and EUR €300.2 million. On September 11^th the Board approved approximately US$1.52 billion for 35 grants, the largest amount approved at any one time under the New Funding Model. This single funding decision alone represents almost 12 percent of the US$13.1 billion of funding that the Technical Review Panel and Grants Approvals Committees are expected to approve in the 2014-2016 allocation period. Between January and October, the PSD’s Performance Based Grants Task Force diligently reviewed numerous country and regional concept notes and provided valuable feedback on grant management and grant performance across the Global Fund portfolio, facilitating the speedy and responsible implementation of the New Funding Model.

The Secretariat’s Grant Approvals Committee submits funding recommendations to the Board for review and decision one or two times per month. PSD Task Force Members review the funding requests to ensure that proposed investments are evidence- and performance based, aligned with national strategic plans and poised to have maximum impact on the three diseases. Their input and recommendations feed into the PSD’s vote to either approve or object to the funding decision. The transparent voting process provides a platform for the Private Sector to strategically surface priority issues to the Board and Secretariat. Thanks to the commitment and expert input of the Performance Based Grants Task Force, the PSD is ensuring that Global Fund investments are technically sound, strategically focused and effectively implemented to deliver the greatest impact.

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UN Member States Adopt New Development Agenda: Highlights from the 70^th UN General Assembly and the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit

The 70^th United Nations General Assembly saw the adoption of an ambitious sustainable development agenda to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice and promote prosperity across the globe. The role of integrated, multi-stakeholder partnerships and universal health coverage featured prominently in discussions about the implementation and realization of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, articulated in the Global Goals.

The Global Fund featured prominently on the agenda through events hosted by the PSD, Secretariat and partner organizations. Read highlights from UNGA here.

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GBCHealth Launches the Health Credit Exchange: An Innovative Financing Mechanism

With global leaders adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015, there remains an ever-pressing need to maintain the gains made in the MDG-era and to accelerate progress towards meeting these new, more ambitious set of goals. However, there is broad consensus that current donor pledges will fall short of what is required to finance the health-related SDGs. As a result, new resources will need to be mobilized and smart investments will need to be made, to ensure no one is left behind.

In response to this challenge, GBCHealth, along with Total Impact Advisors and the MDG Health Alliance, have developed a new financing platform called the Health Credit Exchange (HCX). Launched at the Third Financing for Development Conference in July, the HCX was announced as a key partner of the World Bank’s Global Financing Facility (GFF) in Support of Every Woman Every Child.

The HCX is an innovative way to harness the resources and expertise of the private sector and mobilize action toward improvements in global health. By aggregating corporate contributions in a Donor Advised Fund to pay for targeted health outcomes, the HCX will bridge gaps in health financing. Through the HCX, private capital will be mobilized to support high-performing and innovative health and wellness programs overcome barriers to delivery and maximize impact. The Exchange uses a ‘pay for performance’ model — paying partners for outcomes only after they have been achieved. Learn more about the HCX.

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Meet the PSD

Jami Taylor,
Senior Director, Global Access Policy
Johnson & Johnson

How does your membership in the PSD Advisory Group benefit your company’s health work?

Our membership with the PSD Advisory Group has enabled us to become more deeply networked within the global health community, and to participate more efficiently and effectively in the debates that are setting the direction for the future of global health. The quality of the dialogue that the PSD facilitates, both among PSD members and with other stakeholders, is second to none. I recently invited one of my company’s senior leaders to attend a PSD-hosted meeting with me. Afterwards, he declared it the best meeting he’d attended in years: content-rich, relevant and “real.” I often leave PSD events with a similar sense. Time participating in PSD activities is time well spent.

Read the full interview here.