“As the Global Fund [to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria] turns 10 on January 26, 2012, Nigerian families should join in the celebration of this innovative initiative that has saved the lives of millions here in Nigeria and across the globe,” Bello Bissalla, project manager for private sector and government partnerships at Friends of the Global Fund Africa, writes in Nigeria’s BusinessDay. “Much of the Global Fund’s success could be attributed to its performance-based financing mechanism, which creates room for transparency in the purchase, distribution and administration of drugs for these three diseases,” Bissalla continues, noting the grant review process “ensures that grant recipients show verified evidence of performance before receiving the next tranche of funding, thus ensuring transparency and implementation of the grant according to the plan.”

Bissalla concludes, “As we celebrate the Global Fund’s achievement, we must not forget that there is much to be done to eliminate these diseases. We must step up the fight to get more resources committed, while ensuring transparency and efficiency of the grants at each level of administration. As we look into the future, we see a more successful Global Fund, rising to the funding challenges it currently faces” (1/25).