Germany: Global Fund gets 10$ million
Donor countries have pledged nearly $10 billion to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria over the next three years. A good start but not enough say NGOs
di Staff
Donor countries have pledged nearly $10 billion to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria over the next three years at a meeting on Thursday in Berlin. Campaigners welcomed the pledges but said that they were not enough to cover the Fund?s needs.
The Global Fund is a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities that was created in 2002 to increase the resources to fight three of the world?s most devastating diseases – every year around 3 million people die of AIDS, 2 million of TB and 1 million of malaria. The Fund claims to have saved 2 million lives to date.
"This is a good day for global health, for millions of poor people who are affected by these three diseases," said former U.N Secretary Kofi Annan who explained that that the total amount of 9.7$ billion that was pledged for 2008-2010 included ?conservative? projections from the USA, Canada and Japan and that these countries would increase their contributions in 2009.
Among the European pledges that were made France?s was one of the largest. Germany pledged 600 million euros over the next 3 years while Britain promised to give 1 billion pounds up to 2015. Italy, which had fallen into arrears, has now paid $350 million in outstanding pledges from 2006 and 2007 and has now committed a further $551.9 million up to 2010.
"We were promised a war chest to fight the three diseases but what we have got today demonstrates a weakening of nerve," said Steve Cockburn from the Stop AIDS Campaign, who added that the Fund had been promised three times the resources to expand its programmes, but got enough only to cover existing projects.
Oliver Buston, the European Director of Debt AIDS Trade Africa (DATA), the organisation founded by Bono Vox, Bobby Shriver and Jamie Drummond dedicated to eradicating extreme poverty and AIDS in Africa, commented on the Global Fund pledges: ?There is clear recognition here that a mechanism that saves 2 million lives in five years deserves strong support. But AIDS infection rates are still rising fast, especially in Africa, and pledges beyond 2008 will need to be scaled up further. ?
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