Guest blog: Salud por Derecho: D2H agreements are a step forward, but the Spanish government must still live up to its’ 2017 commitment to announce a substantial pledge to the Global Fund

It has been one year since the Spanish parliament, with the support of all political groups, agreed to a non-binding-proposal that urged the government to return to being a significant donor for the Global Fund during the 2017-2019 period, and to announce a substantial contribution that should reach up to 100 million euros for this three years (2017-2019).

This commitment however remains unfulfilled, and Spain is still one of the countries that has drastically cut funding for HIV/AIDS. Bilateral aid for pandemics is very limited and the cut in multilateral aid is especially significant because, despite having been one of the largest donors of the Global Fund during the past decade, there has not been any monetary contribution since 2011.

Recently, the government of Spain announced an agreement to waive debts owed by Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia in exchange for investments of 15.5 million in domestic health programs supported by the Global Fund.  This is a long-awaited agreement but in no manner should be understood as a substitute for the commitment agreed to by all political parties.

At this moment, we are waiting for the 2018 budget to be submitted. We believe that it is crucial that it includes a line to resume the financial contribution with the Global Fund.

We know that there is a parliamentary consensus for this to happen and we trust that the political will of the government will make the commitment effective.