The Global Fund on Wednesday announced its first debt-to-health, or D2H, swap since 2011, kicking off a strategy that aims to engage up to five new creditor countries in 2018.

“Over the next five years, I aim for at least 10 new D2H agreements that can really complement the resources of the Global Fund,” Christoph Benn, director of external relations at the Global Fund, told Devex after announcing a triple swap. Spain will waive debts owed by Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Cameroon in exchange for investments in domestic health programs supported by the Global Fund.

The D2H swaps, which were originally launched with a pilot phase in 2007, see a donor cancel publicly held debt if the recipient government transfers some of the resources to the Global Fund to invest in domestic health programs. Previously, only Germany and Australia had taken part in the initiative and there had been no new announcements since 2011, after the effects of the 2008 global financial crisis made it hard to convince governments to join the initiative, Benn said.

Read the full article about Global Fund's debt-to-health swap by Gloria Pallares at Devex International Development.