TEHRAN – The annual conference of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was held in-person and online from October 29 to 31 in Sari, Mazandaran Province.
The event brought together members of the National Coordination Mechanism (CCM), including the President, the Vice-President, the Vice-President, the Ministries of the Interior, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Ministries of Justice, prison organizations, welfare organizations, the private sector and non-governmental organizations, as well as representatives of youth and patients, the Ministry of Health’s website reported.
Additionally, international organizations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) also attended the meeting.
Dr. Enkhzin Babu (Iranian Global Fund Portfolio Manager), Mr. Naeem Chaudhry (Iran Evaluation Team Leader), Mr. Anna Carrasco (CCM HUB Liaison Officer), and Professor Mohamed Chakloun (Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean) participated in the meeting online.
Country Coordination Mechanisms (CCMs) are national committees of countries supported by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) and include representatives from governments, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, technical institutions, patients, and international organizations.
The CCM is responsible for coordination, monitoring, and decision-making regarding the implementation of national projects related to the Global Fund. Iran’s CCM is chaired by Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi.
The Global Fund brings together world leaders, communities, civil society, health workers, and the private sector to find solutions that have the greatest impact and scale them around the world. Since 2002, this partnership has saved 70 million lives.
The organization is the world’s largest multilateral funder of global health grants to low- and middle-income countries, disbursing more than US$69 billion to countries since 2002. We know that with science, funding, political will and leadership, we can fight and overcome the most deadly disease threats.
The Global Fund has proven that by working together with civil society, governments, private sector partners, philanthropists, technology partners and communities affected by disease, we can save lives and dramatically change the course of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.
Facilitating rapid response to HIV
In an effort to strengthen the resilience of Iran’s national AIDS program and overall HIV testing capacity, Iran’s Ministry of Health, the China Center for International Economic and Technical Exchange (CICETE), and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) held a meeting in April to share expertise.
This multi-stakeholder initiative brought together more than 30 experts from both countries and UNAIDS to explore ways to build domestic manufacturing capacity for rapid HIV diagnostics. This is a sustainable path to closing the HIV testing gap in Iran.
MT/MG