Optimism surrounding the science of HIV treatment and prevention “is tempered by less auspicious trends, particularly shrinking budgets for global health in the U.S. and around the world,” Victoria Fan, Amanda Glassman, and Rachel Silverman of the Center for Global Development (CGD) write in the center’s “Global Health Policy” blog. “In this increasingly austere budget climate, generating ‘value for money’ (VFM) is a top concern for global health funding agencies and their donors, who want the biggest bang for their buck in terms of lives saved and diseases controlled,” they write, noting that a CGD-convened working group has produced a draft background paper (.pdf) on the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The paper identifies “priority challenges” for the fund, which the authors discuss. They invite readers to comment on the consultation paper on the blog or by email (7/18).