Step 01
One finger prick
A dual rapid test screens for HIV and syphilis at once — about four cents more than the HIV-only test many countries already buy. Results come back in minutes.
$0.84
Global Coalition for the Elimination of Congenital Syphilis
One shot.
Many partners.
Every year, syphilis in pregnancy causes more than 390,000 stillbirths, newborn deaths, premature births and lifelong disabilities. A test that costs 84 cents finds it. A penicillin injection under 50 cents stops it. Almost none of it should still be happening.
Twenty-six organizations — governments, UN agencies, funders, researchers and implementers — have come together to end congenital syphilis in at least ten high-burden countries within the decade.
The gap
A preventable tragedy, at scale
A pregnant woman makes her way to antenatal care. She is screened and counselled for HIV, but not syphilis. Months later she delivers a stillborn baby and no one ever tells her why.
This happens hundreds of thousands of times a year.390,000+
Adverse pregnancy outcomes each year — about 150,000 stillbirths, 70,000 newborn deaths, and 170,000 premature births and severe disabilities
~700,000
Congenital syphilis cases globally in 2022
+11%
Increase in a baby’s likelihood of exposure compared with eight years ago
~6%
Share of adverse outcomes occurring in mothers who were fully screened and treated — the rest is a delivery failure, not a medical one
The contrast with HIV tells the story.
New HIV infections in children under five fell 62% between 2010 and 2024 — the result of sustained global attention and money. Over the same period, congenital syphilis has gone the other way.
The same women, in the same clinics, on the same day.
The intervention
The whole intervention costs under $1.50
Step 02
Same visit, same day
If she is positive, she is treated immediately with benzathine penicillin.
<$0.50
Step 03
Most harm averted
Treatment before the third trimester prevents 82% of stillbirths, 80% of newborn deaths and 97% of congenital syphilis cases.
97%
No new clinic network. No adherence regimen. No behaviour-change campaign.
Over 80% of pregnant women in high-burden countries already attend antenatal care and are already tested for HIV. What is missing is the dual test in the room, a health worker trained to use it, and penicillin on the shelf.
The model
Nobody does this alone
The coalition starts somewhere else: with the scale of the problem, and the question of who needs to be at the table.
The division of labor is already clear from the countries where this works:
Global Fund
and other multilateral and bilateral partners fund the tests
Governments
fund and sustain the treatment
Government health workers
deliver the care
Implementing organizations
provide technical assistance where each is strongest
Membership
Thirty organizations. One goal.
Membership is open to UN agencies, donors, implementing partners, research institutions, community organizations and country representatives committed to congenital syphilis elimination — and to organizations working across the broader triple elimination agenda and comprehensive maternal care.
Clinton Health Access Initiative
Coefficient Giving
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Evidence Action
Expertise France
Gates Foundation
GiveWell
Global Health Impact Group
Healthy Futures Global
Impact Nexus Africa
International Community of Women Living with HIV Eastern Africa
MedAccess
Pan American Health Organization
PATHPrevail Fund
Stillbirth Prevention and Care Initiative
STIWatch
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Global Health Security and DiplomacyUmzanyana
Unitaid
VillageReach
World Health OrganizationConvened by Evidence Action with funding from the Gates Foundation, in partnership with WHO, PATH, Unitaid and others.
Membership is open. If your organization works on congenital syphilis, triple elimination or comprehensive maternal care, there is a place for you.
Inquire about joiningTiming
The window is this year
Countries are writing their Global Fund proposals for the 2027–2029 cycle right now. What a country leaves out of that budget, it does without until 2030.
At the same time, the landscape is contracting.
- PEPFAR is being restructured following the closure of USAID, and its priorities are narrowing
- Global Fund replenishment is likely to fall short
- Congenital syphilis rates are rising
Tighter resources make prioritization more important, not less. Scarce dollars should move toward interventions where the evidence is strong, the economics are compelling, and the route to durable government ownership is real. There are not many that clear all three. This is one.
Tools for the GC8 application
Policy endorsement alone does not put syphilis in a funding request. The application asks for commodity quantities, cost documentation and narrative justification that many country teams have not had to prepare for syphilis before. Coalition members have built the tools to close that gap.
Evidence Action · Global Fund GC8, 2027–2029
GC8 Syphilis Toolkit
Resources for country teams, technical assistance partners and Country Coordinating Mechanisms integrating dual HIV/syphilis rapid tests and benzathine penicillin G into GC8 funding proposals.
- Syphilis integration checklist — the full GC8 application timeline, from country dialogue to pre-submission review, with syphilis-specific actions at each stage.
- Quantification and budget calculator — an Excel tool generating three-year procurement quantities, landed cost budgets and funding scenarios for dual tests and BPG.
- Impact evidence package — proposal-ready narrative language, cost-effectiveness evidence and citations formatted for GC8 applications.
- One-page evidence brief — for CCM meetings, Ministry of Health discussions and stakeholder planning sessions.
Companion resources from partners
GC8 Integration Toolkit
Practical guidance for integrating hepatitis, harm reduction and triple elimination into HIV programs.
View toolkit
EVT Integration Toolkit for GC8
A three-part toolkit for positioning elimination of vertical transmission within GC8 applications.
View toolkit
Integration Primer & RAPID Tool
Pragmatic guidance for advancing integrated systems and services across primary health care.
View primerJoin us
There is a place in this coalition
Whether you fund, implement, research or set policy, there is a place in this coalition. Members meet quarterly by video, share what they are learning, and help shape the investment case and advocacy agenda the field needs.