At St. Martin de Porres Hospital on the outskirts of Accra in Ghana, Joseph is beginning a very important journey. The 27-year-old is picking up a two-months’ supply of lifesaving antiretroviral therapy medication (ART), but the drugs are not for him, even though he has taken them daily since he was diagnosed with HIV at age 11.

Joseph is part of a program called Model of Hope, which is run by the Christian Health Association of Ghana (CHAG), and enlists the help of people living with HIV to assist others who have tested positive for the virus. CHAG is one of the many community-based organisations and healthcare providers in Ghana supported by the Global Fund.

COVID-19 has made this mission even more critical. To address the dual challenges, last year the Global Fund launched its COVID-19 Response to help to alleviate the impact of this second pandemic on communities already grappling with HIV and AIDS. Apple was one of the first companies to shift attention and resources to the Global Fund’s COVID-19 efforts, and will continue redirecting half of eligible proceeds from (PRODUCT)RED purchases to the COVID-19 Response through the end of 2022, with the other half going directly to the fight to end AIDS.