The head of a major global health partnership is in Canberra this week to urge the Australian government to increase its funding to fight infectious diseases, citing escalating HIV and tuberculosis crises in neighbouring Pacific nations.
Lady Ros Morauta, chair of the Global Fund, warned that surging disease rates in countries like Papua New Guinea and Fiji represent a “huge threat to Australia,” coinciding with a new report detailing the urgent health emergencies in the region.
A regional impact report released by the Global Fund on Monday detailed the severity of the health crises.
Papua New Guinea, which declared a national HIV crisis in June, recorded 11,000 new infections in 2024. Fiji declared its own HIV outbreak in January after nearly 1,600 new cases last year.
The report also notes that tuberculosis remains the leading cause of death in PNG, prompting its health minister to declare a “war” on the disease.
Call for Increased Australian Contribution
As part of her visit, Lady Morauta is lobbying Australian members of parliament for an increased contribution of $330 million for the fund’s next three-year cycle.
Australia’s current pledge for the 2023-2025 period is $266 million, and a decision on the next funding amount is expected in 2025. Lady Morauta argued that supporting the fund is both a moral imperative and in Australia’s direct national interest, given the proximity of the health emergencies.
The Global Fund operates as a partnership that has saved an estimated 65 million lives over the past two decades, reducing the combined death rate from AIDS, TB, and malaria by 61 per cent in the countries where it invests.
Lady Morauta highlighted the fund’s “performance-driven” model, where funding is allocated based on national plans developed by the recipient countries and is conditional on meeting agreed-upon targets, such as the distribution of medical supplies.