French regional advisor on global health visits Manila
THE Regional Advisor on Global Health for Southeast Asia, Clarisse Veylon-Hervet, was in the Philippines from January 29 to February 3 for the Global Fund Country Dialogue in Manila, where she participated with the Embassy.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria is an international organization dedicated to defeating these three pandemics and strengthening health systems in more than 100 countries by investing $4 billion annually.
While the Philippines is on track to eliminate malaria by 2030, the situation remains critical for the other two diseases. The country has the fastest growing HIV epidemic in the Asia-Pacific region and the 4th highest incidence of TB in the world.
In this context, the Philippines receives funding from the Global Fund and as such has a Country Coordinating Mechanism, which coordinates all entities working on the three diseases at the national level. As the second largest historical contributor to the Global Fund, France is a member of the Philippine Country Coordinating Mechanism, which it co-chairs.
A new funding request is being developed to ensure access to care and treatment for the most vulnerable populations. In this context, Global Fund recipient countries are required to organize a “country dialogue” that brings together leaders, communities, civil society, health workers and the private sector to address the three diseases.
Veylon-Hervet represented France with the Embassy at the country dialogue in Manila from February 1 to 3. The Global Fund country team from Geneva, the World Health Organization and the Stop TB Partnership were also present. It was also an opportunity for the Embassy to present “l’Initiative”, a French funding mechanism within the Global Fund, for which the Philippines is eligible since December 2022.
In parallel to the country dialogue, Veylon-Hervet accompanied the Global Fund and Stop TB Partnership delegation on visits to TB and AIDS screening and treatment centers in Quezon city and Mandaluyong to meet with health organizations and stakeholders and discuss the realities of the fight against these diseases in the Philippines.