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At a May 19 press conference in Paris, the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria warned that current pledges do not cover the minimum funding needed in 2011-13. Michel Kazatchkine said donor nations and private sources so far have promised $11.7 billion for the three-year period, while the fund needs at least $13 billion. Maximum needs could top $20 billion, he noted. “We need more if we are going to have a world in 2015 where nearly no one dies of malaria, no more children are born infected with HIV and at least 70 percent to 80 percent of patients who need treatment for AIDS get it,” said Kazatchkine. A funding shortfall will especially hamper efforts to provide universal coverage of insecticide-treated anti-malaria nets and treatment to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission, he said.
The call comes ahead of a May 26-27 meeting of the G-20 nations in Deauville, France. Kazatchkine urged emerging nations to do their part. “The world is changing, the G-8 has become the G-20. It is clear that emerging nations - Brazil, China, India, South Africa, and Mexico - should become actors in this collective, international effort,” he said.
From its founding in 2002 through last year, the Global Fund has helped save 6.5 million lives, according to a new report. By the end of 2010, fund-supported programs were providing HIV treatment to some 3 million people, of whom 1 million were pregnant women with the virus; last year’s figures represent a 20 percent increase over 2009. In addition, fund-sponsored TB detection and treatment efforts in 2010 increased by 29 percent, with an even larger increase, 50 percent, for multidrug- resistant TB.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
