Increasing financial pressures are no secret, so in an era of budget constraints, we need to be smart with our budgeting. That is exactly why I fully support the continued contributions to the Global Fund because supporting international health systems doesn’t just save lives overseas, it keeps us safer here at home. Stronger systems abroad mean fewer outbreaks reaching our shores, more stable trading partners, and a healthier global economy that Britain depends on. Investing in the Global Fund is not only the right thing to do morally, but also the smart thing to do economically and strategically.
The Global Fund provides care for three completely preventable diseases, HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria. These infections cost the global economy billions of pounds and millions of lives each year.
HIV today is not a death sentence. Science has done its job. With one pill a day, or even a single injection every few months, people can live long, healthy lives. Sustaining this and not reverting to scenes familiar with Channel 4’s extraordinary drama ‘It’s a Sin’ requires commitment, funding and global cooperation. If international support for HIV declines, it is estimated there could be an additional 10 million new HIV infections in the next five years alone.
Tuberculosis, sometimes described as the “Victorian superbug,” is on the rise again, with cases in England up 13 per cent last year. Globally it remains one of the leading infectious killers. It is largely preventable and treatable, curable in the vast majority of cases, and yet too often neglected.
And malaria, a microscopic parasite spread by something as small as a mosquito, continues to kill half a million people every year. There’s a saying: If you think you’re too small to make a difference, you’ve never spent a night in a tent with a mosquito. We know what works: mosquito nets, repellents, rapid tests and education. The challenge isn’t science — it’s access. The tools exist, but too many communities simply cannot afford or reach them.
I spoke earlier this year about the United States cutting funding to the World Health Organization, I said then, that global health isn’t charity – it’s security, and it’s self-interest. When it comes to global public health, nobody wins unless everybody wins. Those aren’t my words, they’re Bruce Springsteen’s, but they apply just as much to global health as they do to any other struggle. If we allow international health systems to weaken, if we turn our backs on collaboration, we are not just failing others, we are failing ourselves.
Every time we strengthen a health system abroad, we strengthen Britain’s safety at home. We reduce the risk of the next pandemic, protect supply chains, stabilise economies and open new opportunities for trade and innovation.
Let us also be honest about the wider picture. The UK’s Official Development Assistance budget has already been reduced from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of national income. The Government is now reducing it further to around 0.3 per cent by 2027. The Fleming Fund, which monitors and helps tackle antimicrobial resistance, has been scaled back, and the UK’s contribution to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has fallen from around £1.65 billion to £1.25 billion for the next funding cycle — a real-terms reduction of roughly 40 per cent.
Taken together, these decisions risk sending a message that Britain is retreating from its proud record of global health leadership. If we are serious about being a world leader in science, in public health and in international development, then maintaining our commitment to the Global Fund is one of the clearest and most effective ways to show it. A rushed transition from Global Aid to self-financing, forced by rapid funding reduction would result in healthcare disruption, stockouts of essential medicines, and ultimately deaths. The long-term costs will rise, in exchange for short-term, short-sighted savings.
Britain has always punched above its weight when it comes to science, health and compassion. We helped eradicate smallpox. We led on vaccine distribution. We have the knowledge, the compassion and the credibility to lead again — if we choose to.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we all waited for science to catch up — for a vaccine, for hope. When it finally arrived, the world changed almost overnight. With HIV, TB and malaria, we don’t have to wait. The science is already there. The treatments already exist. What’s missing is political will, and what is missing when there isn’t political will, is funding. The debate reminded us just how much progress we have made — and how much we stand to lose if we step back now.
Government must continue to Support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
