Carta Pública 10 Instituciones al Fondo Mundial contra la Tuberculosis, VIH-SIDA y Malaria. Vers. en Inglés

Open letter to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria from the Venezuelan civil society

organizations and individuals

20 June 2020

Dear Secretariat, Board of the Global Fund, and Independent Technical Review Panel,

We, academic and other civil society organizations, and citizens who individually or collectively carry out
activities related to the malaria response in Venezuela are writing to you to convey our concerns about
the Global Fund’s approach to the current malaria funding request. As a civil society, we have limited
participation and we are questioning some of the technical aspects we have seen in preliminary versions
of the malaria funding request.
We do not understand how the Global Fund did not invite members of the civil society to participate in
the development of the malaria funding request, particularly in the absence of a Country Coordinating
Mechanism (CCM). Venezuela has a polarized political and social environment; it is considered a
challenging operating environment and it is being selected to receive funding from the Global Fund due
to the biggest malaria resurgence in the western hemisphere in the XXI century. The country is suffering
a Complex Humanitarian Emergency and mainly agencies of the United Nations system were invited to
lead a process that in our point of view, should be led by the Venezuelan malaria expert community and
civil society institutions.
We fear that this shift in Global Fund policies will hinder the potential impact and lack of independence
and transparency. Furthermore, there are many WHO policy gaps for malaria control and elimination in
settings with vivax and falciparum malaria; Venezuela has addressed those gaps before and still has the
technical expertise to do so.
The Venezuelan Civil Society urges the Global Fund to take into account several pieces of evidence about
the malaria situation in the country from civil society organizations (here). The current official number of
reported cases represents only a small fraction of the real burden in the country – this is a different version
of the officially reported malaria data.
As a civil society, we would like to request the Secretariat, the Board, and the Technical Review Panel of
the Global Fund to consider supporting the creation and functioning of an Independent Malaria Oversight
Committee, outside the control of the government and UN agencies that could monitor and provide
technical support on the malaria response in the current circumstances. In this committee, all constituencies could be members but data must be shared and decisions should be based on technical
and local/global evidence. The risks are huge and we should all maintain a high level of commitment for
transparency.
Sincerely,

National Academy of Medicine. Venezuelan Society of Public Health

Venezuelan Society of Childcare and Pediatrics
Venezuelan Society of Infectology

Venezuelan Alliance for Health. Network Defending Epidemiology

National Bioethics Center (CENABI)
Civil Association Social Impact (ASOCIS)

Venezuelan Association for the Conservation of Natural Areas (ACOANA)

Dr. Pablo Pulido M., Former Minister Ministry of Health and Social Assistance.
Dr. Rafael Orihuela, Former Minister Ministry of Health and Social Assistance.
Dr. Carlos Walter V., Former Minister Ministry of Health and Social Assistance.
Dr. José Félix Oletta L., Former Minister Ministry of Health and Social Assistance.
Dr. Emigdio Balda, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Central University of Venezuela.
Dr. Julio Castro M., Specialist in Internal Medicine and Infectology, Institute of Tropical Medicine,
Faculty of Medicine, Central University of Venezuela.
Dr. Carmen Teresa Fernández, Tropical Diseases Specialist, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Faculty of
Medicine, Central University of Venezuela.
Dr. María Eugenia Landaeta, Head of Infectology Service, University Hospital of Caracas, Faculty of
Medicine, Central University of Venezuela.
Dr. Leopoldo Villegas A., Director Civil Association Social Impact (ASOCIS)
Dr. Mariapia Bevilacqua, President Venezuelan Association for the Conservation of Natural Areas
(ACOANA).
Dr. Leidi Herrera Cabrera, President Venezuelan Society of Parasitology (SVP)

Contact : Alianza Venezolana por la Salud, email: alianzavsalud@gmail.com