Guidance for Global Fund Round 11 Proposal for Tuberculosis Control

The document aims to provide guidance on key aspects of the proposal development process, including preparatory aspects, identification of key components, and key requirements for proposal submission. The document highlights issues observed in TB proposals submitted to the Global Fund, with an average approval rate of 48% from Round 1 to Round 10. The Technical Review Panel identifies overall issues across disease categories and specific issues for each disease, including administrative issues, such as the establishment of a country coordinating mechanism (CCM) that does not respect Global Fund requirements. For TB proposals, various insufficiencies and inconsistencies were commonly reported by the Technical Review Panel, including the indiscriminate inclusion of all components of the Stop TB Strategy without clear linkages and appropriate description of TB control realities. Many TB applications were not approved for funding due to technical content issues, such as the absence of documented evidence regarding public announcement for submission, omission of the description of the process used to select principal recipients, and failure to address weaknesses identified by the Technical Review Panel in previous rounds. The document emphasizes the importance of developing a sound framework justifying objectives to be reached and interventions to be implemented through the Global Fund grant. It is expected that applicants will avoid including all interventions specified in the Stop TB Strategy without justification, as this has resulted in the Technical Review Panel failing to approve many applications for funding. Country eligibility and prioritization criteria for Global Fund Round 11 are outlined in the document, including the need for countries to demonstrate a clear understanding of their TB burden and control needs. The document also provides guidance on key principles of Global Fund policy, including the importance of a multisectoral approach to proposal development and implementation. The document highlights the need for applicants to establish a logical framework, performance framework, and budget and workplan for the proposal. It also emphasizes the importance of addressing weaknesses identified by the Technical Review Panel in previous rounds and providing clear justification for objectives and interventions. The document includes annexes with additional information on topics such as TB diagnostics and laboratory services, community-based activities for improved TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care, and advocacy and communication. These annexes provide further guidance and resources for applicants developing TB proposals for Global Fund Round 11. The development of this document was coordinated by Salah-Eddine Ottmani, with significant input from Malgorzata Grzemska and others. The document is intended to provide guidance on key aspects of the proposal development process and to help applicants develop a sound framework justifying objectives and interventions to be implemented through the Global Fund grant. The document is intended for country and other stakeholder applicants, writing committees, and consultants supporting TB proposal development. It aims to provide guidance on key aspects of the proposal development process, including preparatory aspects, identification of key components, and key requirements for proposal submission. The document highlights issues observed in TB proposals submitted to the Global Fund and emphasizes the importance of developing a sound framework justifying objectives and interventions to be implemented through the Global Fund grant. The document provides guidance on key principles of Global Fund policy, including the importance of a multisectoral approach to proposal development and implementation. It also emphasizes the need for applicants to establish a logical framework, performance framework, and budget and workplan for the proposal. The document includes annexes with additional information on topics such as TB diagnostics and laboratory services, community-based activities for improved TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care, and advocacy and communication. The document is intended to provide guidance on key aspects of the proposal development process and to help applicants develop a sound framework justifying objectives and interventions to be implemented through the Global Fund grant. It is expected that applicants will avoid including all interventions specified in the Stop TB Strategy without justification, as this has resulted in the Technical Review Panel failing to approve many applications for funding. The document highlights the importance of addressing weaknesses identified by the Technical Review Panel in previous rounds and providing clear justification for objectives and interventions. It also emphasizes the need for applicants to demonstrate a clear understanding of their TB burden and control needs, as outlined in the country eligibility and prioritization criteria for Global Fund Round 11.