The Global Fund 2001-2006: a review of the evidence.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria was launched in 2002 with the goals of financing a turnaround in the fight against the three diseases and fundamentally changing the manner in which money is channeled to poor countries. This paper explores the organization's success in fulfilling that mandate over its first five years of operation, examining both its execution of the core business of raising and distributing funds on the basis of proven performance, dramatically increased financing and its realization of this innovative model. The evidence collected demonstrates that, while improvement is needed in a number of areas, the Global Fund has made rapid progress towards realizing its founding ambition and has begun to have its intended impact on global health and development.

The role of the World Bank in international health: renewed commitment and partnership.

During the course of the past ten years, the World Bank has become the single largest external financier of health activities in low and middle income countries and an important voice in national and international debates on health policy. This article highlights the Bank's new strategic direction in the health sector aimed at: improving health, nutrition, and population outcomes of the poor; enhancing the performance of health care systems; and securing sustainable health care financing. Millions of preventable deaths and treatable illnesses, together with health systems that are inefficient, inequitable and ineffective, have motivated expanded Bank support for the health sector in many of its client countries. The new policy directions and system-wide reforms observed in these countries are the result of both demand and supply factors. It is part of a general shift in the Bank's approach to development assistance, which sees systemic reform as a way to improve the impact and sustainability of investments in health. On the demand side, the Bank is trying to adapt to ongoing political, technological, economic, demographic, epidemiological and social pressures. On the supply side, the Bank's growing international experience and substantial financial resources are used to complement the development assistance provided by other organizations and the global effort to improve health and health systems in low and middle income countries.