The federal government will allocate in the next three years one billion euros for the global fight against deadly infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis. It is not only a moral obligation but also a matter of common sense, Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan (SPD) said on Sunday in Berlin at the start of the annual World Health Summit in the capital.
According to the Development Ministry, the money flows to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, established by the international community in 2002. It is regarded as one of the central initiatives in pandemic response and improving health care worldwide. The Fund says it has invested around 70 billion euros in 100 countries so far. The current eighth replenishment round is underway, with donors able to pledge new funds.
Recently Germany committed 1.3 billion euros
The pledge by the German government represents a cut compared with Germany’s contributions in the previous replenishment round in 2022, when the Federal Republic provided 1.3 billion euros, according to the Fund. The AIDS Action Alliance criticized this sharply on Sunday. Germany has with the Fund’s cut by 23 percent or almost a quarter a “missed opportunity,” said board member Sylvia Urban: “The cuts come at a highly precarious moment.”
Praise for the German government came from US tech billionaire Bill Gates. His foundation is the world’s largest private foundation and supports health and development programs worldwide. It also funds the Global Fund. He was “incredibly grateful” for the German contribution, Gates told Tagesspiegel in a Sunday statement. This, among other things, testified to “strategic foresight.”
630,000 people died of HIV in 2024
HIV or AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are the three deadliest infectious diseases of humanity. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 44 million people have died from HIV worldwide, and in 2024 the number was about 630,000. TB kills about 1.5 million people each year, making it the deadliest disease overall. Additionally, the WHO estimates roughly 600,000 annual deaths from malaria.
According to its own figures, the Fund has succeeded in reducing the number of deaths caused by the three diseases in partner states by 63 percent. However, these gains are threatened by funding cuts from governments in development cooperation and other problems — such as wars and the emergence of resistance in malaria pathogens. The year 2025 is described as a turning point, the Fund said.
Alabali Radovan spoke of the contributions from Germany as an important sign. “Despite the painful budget cuts and the enormous austerity pressure in the ministry, we managed to provide one billion euros for global health protection,” the minister said in reference to savings in the federal budget. The Development Ministry’s budget is set to shrink further in the future.
DAH: “The global HIV pandemic can quickly flare up again”
The AIDS Action Alliance pointed in particular to funding gaps caused by the Trump administration’s cuts to U.S. development aid, which have put the international aid system under heavy pressure. “To prevent a catastrophe, other wealthy countries would need to close the funding gaps caused by the USA’s retreat. But Germany is doing the opposite,” Urban said.
According to Silke Klumb, managing director of German Aidship (DAH), care structures that have been built up over more than 40 years are now being “carelessly destroyed.” Success against HIV and other infectious diseases is only possible if programs are developed and implemented in collaboration with communities. “The world has not yet understood the danger posed by the cuts,” Klumb warned. “The global HIV pandemic can quickly flare up again — in the worst case with mass deaths. We must not allow that!”
World Health Summit opens on Sunday
The World Health Summit opened on Sunday with a speech by Radovan. More than 4,000 experts from home and abroad are discussing questions of global health care at the conference. This year’s congress is under the motto “Responsibility for Health in a Fragmenting World.” Representatives from politics, civil society, science, and business are taking part. It was also expected that Federal Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) and Environment Minister Carsten Schneider (SPD) would attend. Among the topics of the three-day summit are pandemic preparedness, the effects of climate change, and digitalization in the health sector. (AFP)
