AT LEAST 17 COMPONENTS WILL BE USING THE TRANSITION APPLICATION DURING 2017-2019 ALLOCATION PERIOD

Author:

David Garmaise

Article Type:

Article Number: 4

Twelve components will receive “transition funding” directly

ABSTRACT Grants from the 2017-2019 allocation period will assist at least 17 components from 13 countries to transition away from Global Fund support. Twelve components will receive what the Fund calls “transition funding” directly.

Applicants for at least 17 components from 13 countries will be using an application form tailored to transition (in short, a transition application) when they apply for funding from their 2017-2019 allocations.

Most of them will be doing so because the components are no longer eligible for “regular” funding. The Global Fund’s Eligibility Policy states that “countries or components funded under an existing grant that become ineligible may receive funding for up to one additional allocation period following their change in eligibility.” This additional allocation period is known as “transition funding.”

Other applicants will be using a transition application because the Global Fund has requested it. Still others will be using a transition approach because they have decided to “opt-in” in one way or another.

There are 12 components receiving transition funding and using a transition application. They are as follows:

Albania HIV Albania TB Algeria HIV Belize TB Botswana malaria Cuba HIV

Dominican Republic TB Panama TB Paraguay TB Sri Lanka malaria Suriname TB Turkmenistan TB

Countries that have one or more components receiving transition funding were notified of this fact in their allocation letters. For example, the allocation letter for Belize states:

“Transition Funding. As per the Global Fund’s eligibility policy, Belize is no longer eligible for TB funding. Following the change in eligibility, this disease component has received transition funding for one allocation period to support transition to full domestic financing of activities currently financed by the Global Fund.”

Although not on the above list, Iraq will also be receiving transition funding for its TB component. The Secretariat told Aidspan that Iraq TB is “exceptionally” eligible for a continuation of transition funding under the Global Fund’s Challenging Operating Environment (COE) Policy. Iraq will apply using a COE funding application, not a transition application.

The other components for which applicants will be using a transition application (or a transition approach) are: Belize HIV, Malaysia HIV, Panama HIV, Romania TB and Suriname HIV. Here is some additional information on these components:

Belize HIV. Belize will use the transition application for its HIV component because it will be submitting a joint TB/HIV funding request. (Belize TB is on the above list of countries receiving transition funding.)

Malaysia HIV. Malaysia will use the transition application for its HIV component because the Global Fund has projected that Malaysia may be reclassified as high-income in the near future. High-income countries are not eligible for transition funding, so the Fund believes that Malaysia should prepare for transition now.

Panama HIV. Panama will use the transition application for its HIV component for the same reason.

Romania TB. Romania is following a transition approach because the country is moving towards fully funding and implementing its program independent of Global Fund support.

Suriname HIV. Suriname will use the transition application for its HIV component because it will be submitting a joint TB/HIV funding request. (Suriname TB is on the above list of countries receiving transition funding.)

There are two components for which a transition application will not be submitted even though the Global Fund’s 2017 Eligibility List says that they are eligible for transition funding: Bulgaria TB and Paraguay malaria.

The Secretariat told Aidspan that in June 2015, the Board was informed that the existing TB grant to the Ministry of Health (BGR-T-MOH) was developed and negotiated with the understanding that Bulgaria would not receive further funding from the Global Fund, and that the necessary measures for a successful transition to domestic funding would be adopted during the program’s implementation.

Regarding Paraguay, the Secretariat informed Aidspan that the burden of malaria in Paraguay is extremely low, and that there have been no home-grown cases for the last few years. The current malaria grant has a goal of supporting Paraguay to accelerate the path toward being awarded the WHO Malaria Elimination Certification by the end of 2018. Given this, during the Global Fund’s qualitative adjustment process it was determined that no funds should be allocated to Paraguay for malaria. The hope is that Paraguay will receive the WHO malaria-free certification by the end of 2018 (when the current grant ends).

Countries submitting a transition application are required to develop a transition work plan. The work plan must be submitted prior to, or at the time of, the submission of the funding request. Applicants are advised to conduct a transition readiness assessment (TRA) prior to developing their transition work plans. Both the TRA and the work plans are mentioned in the instructions that the Secretariat has developed for funding requests tailored to transition.

The Fund’s Eligibility Policy states that “Transition Funding should be used solely to fund activities included in the country’s transition work-plan.” In its instructions for transition applications, the Global Fund states that at the time of the final transition grant most service delivery activities and most procurement of health products should already be domestically funded.

In October 2016, the Fund released a list of transitions that it projected would occur by 2025.