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(RED) Dollars are Hard at Work in The Fight Against COVID-19

November 1, 2020
Impact
A program worker takes down information at IHATA Shelter in Cape Town, South Africa

In April 2020, the Global Fund—the recipient of 100% of (RED) partner money—created the COVID-19 Response Mechanism to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on its life-saving HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria programs worldwide. Since then, the Global Fund has deployed over $1 billion to help strengthen health systems, protect health workers, and ensure that the most vulnerable communities continue to access life-saving health services and treatment.

Over 100 countries, including 8 (RED)-supported countries, have opted to use this COVID-19 Response funding to ensure they can continue to deliver critical health services and treatment on the ground in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Here are just a few examples of the ways (RED) funding is being put to work to protect HIV/AIDS programs amid COVID-19:

  • Ghana: Securing PPE for frontline health workers and procuring other emergency health and medical equipment at healthcare clinics
  • South Africa: Strengthening community-based screening, testing, and contact tracing, and scaling up supply chains to deliver COVID-19 and HIV treatment
  • Zambia: Purchasing motorbikes to deliver HIV treatment to local communities that are avoiding in-person health services due to COVID-19

(RED) countries have been able to implement swift and effective responses to battle COVID-19, but we must keep up the heat and funding so that this pandemic doesn’t reverse the decades of progress that have been made in the AIDS fight. Still, this year, the Global Fund needs to mobilize an additional $6 billion from public and private sector donors, including (RED) and our partners, to effectively combat the impact of the outbreak on their life-saving programs.

$6 billion is an ambitious goal, so in order to reach it, we must all step up and take action. Join (RED) and our amazing partners in supporting the fight against HIV and COVID-19. When you shop (RED) on Amazon, your purchase generates funds to help strengthen healthcare systems and combat these pandemics.