$1 billion global fund on AIDS, TB and Malaria

5 October 2006 � The United Nations-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is expected to approve requests from almost 100 countries for $950 million over two years to support programmes to combat the global scourges that kill over 6 million people annually.

The Fund�s Board is expected to give the green light to the proposals at a meeting in Guatemala City from 31 October to 3 November. But some grants may have to wait for further donor pledges because the Fund has a current shortfall of around $300 million, the Fund said in a press release today.

�This robust demand for new resources shows that countries both need and can absorb substantial additional resources to fight the three pandemics,� said Professor Richard Feachem, Executive Director of the Global Fund.

�Donors are being presented with high-quality programmes which will save thousands of lives and build a global response to these three pandemics. Donor countries must respond to this challenge by pledging sufficient additional resources so all recommended programs can be funded.�

In May, the Global Fund issued its sixth call for proposals for grant funding and, after careful scrutiny, the independently constituted Technical Review Panel has recommended 85 requests for $949 million over two years ahead of the meeting later this month of the Board.

Since its creation in 2002, the Global Fund has become the world's primary financing mechanism for programmes against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, financing 20 percent of international projects against AIDS worldwide, as well as two thirds of all international tuberculosis and malaria programmes.

The Fund is a global partnership between Governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities and represents a new approach to international health financing. It is not an implementing agency but relies on local ownership and planning to ensure that new resources are directed to programs on the frontline of this global effort to reach those most in need. It has approved grants for 386 programmes in 132 countries with a total commitment of $5.5 billion.
Source: UN News Centre

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