Prime Minister Fumio Kishida virtually attended the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development(TICAD8) in Tunisia, making a strong, positive impression for the government of Japan by announcing a substantial increase in its funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund).
FGFJ congratulates Prime Minister Kishida and the Government of Japan for reaffirming Japan’s commitment to global health with an up to US$1.08 billion pledge to the Global Fund. The pledge was made on August 27 during Prime Minister Kishida’s speech during the opening ceremony of the conference.
Over the Global Fund’s twenty-year history, Japan has made substantial pledges in previous replenishments and contributing over US$4.2 billion to date, making Japan the Global Fund’s fifth largest public donor. This pledge up to US$1.08 billion is Japan’s largest to date, an approximate 30% increase from the previous Replenishment cycle in 2019. This sizeable increase will create the momentum for other countries that will be pledging their support at the upcoming Seventh Replenishment, to be held in New York in September. The pledge also comes ahead of Japan’s upcoming G7 presidency, signifying that global health will continue to be a priority for the Japanese government and may be a key G7 agenda point.
Japan is a longtime leader in the field of global health. At the G8 Kyushu-Okinawa Summit in 2000, Japan helped pave the way for the creation of the Global Fund by placing infectious diseases on the agenda, and since then the Japanese government has maintained a consistent global health focus. In particular, the Kishida administration has shown a firm commitment to building resilient health systems, strengthening pandemic preparedness and response, and promoting universal health coverage (UHC). A key example of this is Japan’s renewed emphasis on health and infectious disease at TICAD8, a conference that has primarily focused on economic development in recent years.
On the issue of global health and fighting infectious diseases, Prime Minister Kishida shared:
“The spread of COVID-19 has made it clear the importance of dealing with infectious diseases. I announce today that Japan will contribute up to US$1.08 billion to the Global Fund’s Seventh Replenishment over the next three years. This is based on the idea of human security and to contribute to supporting measures against the major infectious diseases, such as HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and to strengthening health systems, especially in Africa.”
FGFJ applauds Japan’s ongoing commitment to global health, including the fight again infectious diseases, health system strengthening and UHC.
Related Press Releases:
- The Global Fund: Global Fund Applauds Japan’s Major Commitment to Help End AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Strengthen Systems for Health
- From The Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet: Opening Speech by Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio at the Opening Session of the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8)
- FGFJ (in Japanese): 岸田総理 TICAD8にてグローバルファンドへの10.8億ドル拠出誓約を発表
