Health Equity and Global Fund’s Role in Achieving it

From Ottawa to Nairobi, Berlin to São Paulo, GFANers are speaking out on what health equity means in their lives. This new video series, created by our partners at Aktionsbündnis gegen AIDS, captures those voices and reminds us that the Global Fund’s replenishment is about more than numbers – it’s about justice, dignity, and lives saved.

 

Around the world, communities fight every day for fair and equal health services. In this 15-part video series, advocates, and community leaders share what health equity means to themand why fully funding the Global Fund is critical to achieving it.

“Health equity means no stigmatization, no barriers to treatment and healthcare, and human rights for all those at risk for HIV,” says our friend and colleague Lyle Muns from the Netherlands in the first video, which we are publishing to launch our campaign for the Global Fund replenishment.

Health equity is a human right, not a privilege!

Health equity is essential to make the human right to health a reality. The Global Fund and its partners have saved 65 million lives since its inception, but these achievements are now at risk. We all know that in the coming three years, at least USD 18 billion will be needed for the Global Fund to fulfill its mission of ending HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria as public health threats.

Peter Wiessner from Action against AIDS Germany sums it up: “Health equity means to me that everyone, regardless of where they live, their sexual orientation, or their income, has the same access to high-quality HIV treatment that I have living in a privileged country like Germany.”

We call on our governments to make the right decisions, be generous, and fully fund the Global Fund. Health equity is a political choice.

15 Video Clips on Health Equity

Over the coming months, we will release a new video every week and publish accompanying blog posts in Germany on different topics relevant to the Global Fund’s work.

This initiative is organized by German civil society working on the Global Fund, initiated by Action against AIDS Germany and implemented in cooperation with the Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN).

The 15 video statements were recorded in the spring during the Global Fund Advocates Network meeting in Ottawa. They are designed to be used globally for advocacy. The concept was simple: two questions were asked:

  1. How would you personally define health equity?
  2. What is the role of the Global Fund in achieving it?

The responses impressed us!

Global Perspective and Political Responsibility

We deliberately refrained from narrowing the focus to our demands on the German government, based on our Fair Share calculation. (For those who want to know: Germany’s Fair Share for the Global Fund is EUR 1.8 billion; a contribution below EUR 1.4 billion would put life-saving programs at risk.)

Achieving health equity and financing the Global Fund are global concerns that affect all countries and economies. As Yann Illiaquer from France underlines: “The Global Fund helps achieve health equity by empowering communities to give the most vulnerable the care and attention they need to address diseases we now have all means to tackle.”

We are therefore very pleased if these video clips are also used for Global Fund advocacy in other countries and campaigns, independent of us. We sincerely thank everyone who contributed to making this initiative possible!

Health Equity: Definition and Background

We let community leaders and GFAN advocates speak:
They define what health equity means to them and highlight the Global Fund’s role in achieving it. Health equity is not a fixed concept but shaped by individual experiences. It looks different for every person, in every context and situation.

For Maurine Murenga from Kenya, “Health equity means that regardless of where you are or your social status, you are able to receive health services in a dignified way,” while for Trevor Stratton from Canada, “Health equity means addressing stigma, discrimination, and racism.”

These individual perspectives complement the broader definition:
Health equity is a core concept in public health and social justice. It represents the pursuit of fairness and justice in health. Health equity means eliminating avoidable, unfair, and unjust differences in health status among different population groups.

Every person, regardless of social, economic, demographic, or geographic factors, should have a fair opportunity to attain the highest possible level of health. Fitsum Lakew Alemayehu from Ethiopia puts it succinctly: “Health equity means access to all health services for everybody, everywhere.”

Continuity of our Work

For us, the focus on health equity builds on work that began during the World Health Summit in Berlin in late 2024. We conducted interviews with GFAN speakers and produced videos and feature stories.

In these videos, Krystal Burungi from Uganda, Pricilla Amo-Addo from Ghana, and Eudora Ogechuku from Nigeria share their perspectives on health equity. We published these materials for World AIDS Day 2024, marking the start of our campaign for the Global Fund replenishment.

Ensuring that the voices of communities are at the heart of our advocacy for the Global Fund’s replenishment remains a key priority for us.

We thank everyone who helped make this possible!

– Peter Wiessner and Johanna Fipp

Full Playlist on Health Equity: https://tinyurl.com/PlayHealthEquity

Individual Videos:

  1. Lyle Muns / Netherlands: https://bit.ly/LyleMuns
  2. Trevor Stratton / Canada: https://bit.ly/TrevorStratton
  3. Maurine Murenga / Kenya: https://tinyurl.com/MaurineMurenga
  4. Cecilia Senoo / Ghana: https://tinyurl.com/CeciliaSenoo
  5. Claudio Fernandes / Brazil: https://tinyurl.com/ClaudioFernandes
  6. Kinz ul Eman / Pakistan: https://tinyurl.com/KinzulEman
  7. Maddy Featherstone / USA: https://tinyurl.com/MaddyFeatherstone
  8. Peter Wiessner / Germany: https://tinyurl.com/PeterWiessner
  9. Fitsum Lakew Alemayehu / Ethiopia: https://tinyurl.com/FitsumAlemayehu
  10. Alex Runswick / United Kingdom: https://tinyurl.com/AlexRunswick
  11. Daniel Marguari / Indonesia: https://tinyurl.com/DanielMarguari
  12. Maher Sleiman / Lebanon: https://tinyurl.com/Maher-Sleiman
  13. Ani Herna Sari / Indonesia: https://tinyurl.com/AniSari
  14. Yann Illiaquer / France: https://tinyurl.com/YannIlliaquer
  15. Jean Paul Enamao / Senegal: https://tinyurl.com/JeanEnamao