Donors Urged to Treble Global Fund Contributions

ActionAid UK

Global Fund replenishment conference, Berlin (26-28 September). ActionAid and coalition partners are in Berlin as the German government hosts the 2nd Replenishment Meeting of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, from 26th-28th September 2007, chaired by Kofi Annan, former Secretary General to the UN, with Chancellor Merkel opening the conference as the chair of the G8.

24 September 2007

Donors need to treble their contribution to meet the US$18 billion target for the Global Fund's fight against HIV, TB and malaria, says ActionAid.

"The Global Fund is best equipped to tackle the three pandemics but funding needs to be scaled up to get a handle on this global health crisis," said Anandi Yuvaraj, former member of the Global Fund Board. "No other bilateral programmes, be it PEPFAR or any other, can meet this challenge."

The Global Fund currently provides approximately 21% of the resources spent on HIV/AIDS and two-thirds of the resources spent on TB and malaria. Since it was launched in 2002, the fund has saved 1.8 million lives.

"As a former member of the Global Fund Board, representing communities affected by the three diseases, it is heartening to see its growth in such a short space of time', said Yuvaraj. 'I am personally benefiting from wider and easier access to treatment, having just started taking these life-saving drugs myself".

Yuvarai said she comes from a region where women are increasingly affected by the pandemic. "So the Global Fund and its donors need to ensure that women get equal access to treatment," she added.

"World leaders and international agencies are dithering about their commitment to fight AIDS and the 2010 universal access goal," said Aditi Sharma, Head of ActionAid's HIV AIDS Campaign. "But if they continue at their current pace they will fail to stop 13.9 million unnecessary deaths between now and 2015.

"On Thursday, the world will be watching to see if donors live up to championing the fight against these three diseases, claiming 6 million lives a year, or just deliver very small change," she added.

ENDS

Note:

1. Despite the G8 promise to achieve Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010, over 70% of people in urgent need of treatment still have no access to medicines.
2. UNAIDS estimates that there was a global funding gap of $8bn in 2007 to tackle HIV and AIDS.
3. In June, G8 leaders committed to meeting the increased resource needs of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and to deliver long term pledges at the
Fund's replenishment conference in Berlin (26-28 September).