Key takeaways:

• Harm reduction is crucial to meeting global health goals and fulfilling the Global Fund Strategy 2023-2028. Harm reduction is severely underfunded in low- and middle-income countries and overly reliant on the Global Fund as the largest donor.
• The Global Fund has an important role in supporting increased domestic investment in harm reduction.
• Community and civil society voice must be protected in the Lusaka Agenda.
• The reduction in catalytic investments threatens the delivery of the Global Fund Strategy on maximising health equity, gender equality and human rights.

At the 51st Global Fund Board meeting, Harm Reduction International (HRI), the South African Network of People who use drugs (SANPUD), VOCAL Kenya, Rumah Cemara, Regional Network of Asian People Who Use Drugs (NAPUD) and the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) called on Board Delegations to factor in the following priorities:

• It is imperative that the Global Fund’s funding for harm reduction and wider key population programmes, and support to community-led organisations, is protected and increased, in keeping with the Global Fund Strategy and the Global AIDS Strategy 30-80-60 targets.
• Health financing must include concerted efforts to increase domestic investment in harm reduction and broader key population programming.
• Community and civil society voices must play a central role in the Lusaka Agenda.
• Catalytic investment funding, including multi-country grants, strategic initiatives and matching funds must be prioritised in order to meet the Global Fund Strategy objectives on health equity, gender equality and human rights.