Dr. Anthony elected CCM chair

HEALTH Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, was elected chair of the Guyana Global Fund – Country Coordinating Mechanism (GF/CCM) and Simone Sills, a civil society representative vice-chair when the board was reconvened on Wednesday.

Dr. Anthony brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience, not only in the medical field but in the processes applied by the Global Fund.

While addressing the new members of the board and personnel from the Ministry of Health via Zoom, the CCM chair expressed appreciation to those who nominated and officially elected him as chair of the CCM for the next two years, a release said.

The CCM chair emphasised that he looks forward to working with the board members and other partners in strengthening efforts focused on TB, HIV and Malaria.

Dr. Anthony recognised past partnerships with civil society and further indicated that he looks forward to strengthening that relationship.

In her remarks, Sills thanked the civil society organisations (CSOs) for expressing their confidence in her. She underscored the role civil society organisations play in the prevention of the diseases. Sills noted that the CSOs are the foot soldiers who ensure that programmes and services meet the most vulnerable.

The vice-chair welcomed this opportunity and indicated that her commitment to the board will not waiver. Sills has been working in the CSO arena for a number of years. As the executive director of the National Coordinating Coalition (NCC), Sills has been working towards the improvement of services and capacity building of CSOs throughout Guyana. Under her leadership, the NCC has benefitted from grants from the USAID and Global Fund, among others.

The Country Coordinating Mechanism includes representatives of all sectors involved in the response to the diseases: academic institutions, civil society, faith-based organisations, government, multilateral or bilateral agencies, nongovernmental organisations, and people living with the diseases, the private sector and technical agencies.

Importantly, CCMs are national committees that submit funding applications to the Global Fund and oversee grants on behalf of their countries. They are a key element of the Global Fund partnership.

The Guyana CCM is tasked with coordinating the development of the national request for funding; nominates the principal recipient; oversees the implementation of approved grants; approves any re-programming requests and ensures linkages and consistency among Global Fund grants and other national health and development programmes.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was created in 2002 to raise, manage and invest the world’s money to respond to three of the deadliest infectious diseases the world has ever known. The mission of the Global Fund is to invest the world’s money to defeat these three diseases. As an international organisation, the Global Fund mobilises and invests more than US$4 billion a year to support programmes run by local experts in more than 100 countries.