GENEVA, 18 December 2015—UNAIDS strongly supports calls made by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) for additional resources for its next funding cycle. These resources will support country efforts in reaching the Fast-Track Targets to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Global Fund is asking governments, the private sector and other organizations for a total of US$ 13 billion for the period between 2017 and 2019, which would save millions of lives and avert hundreds of millions of infections and new cases of HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. The call was made at the Preparatory Meeting of the Global Fund Fifth Replenishment, held in Tokyo, Japan, on 16 and 17 December. A follow-up conference will take place in mid-2016 to finalize the Global Fund’s level of funding for the upcoming three-year period.
“We have to invest additional resources today to end these epidemics, otherwise the deadly trio will claim millions more lives, as well as costing us more in the long run,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé.
As a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and people affected by the diseases, the Global Fund currently mobilizes and invests almost US$ 4 billion annually to support programmes managed locally in more than 100 countries. UNAIDS supports countries at all stages of the Global Fund grant cycle—from the collection and analysis of epidemiologic data and strategic information, to the development of strong HIV investment cases, national strategic plans and funding requests, to grant negotiations and signing, programme implementation and monitoring and evaluation.
Although much progress has been made in responding to the epidemics, the dual impact of HIV and TB continues to be devastating for millions of people and their families. Of the 1.5 million people killed by TB in 2014, 400 000 were HIV-positive. AIDS-related illnesses claimed 1.2 million lives in 2014, which included the 400 000 TB deaths among HIV-positive people. Malaria causes hundreds of thousands of deaths every year, predominantly among young children.
Ending AIDS by 2030 is a smart investment and will avert an estimated 21 million AIDS-related deaths and 28 million new HIV infections, including 5.9 million new HIV infections among children.
UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
