AHF Praises European Commission for €100M Increase in Its Global Fund Contribution to €470M
AHF hopes the announcement serves as a catalyst for other donors to
increase their own contributions to the lifesaving Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AIDS
Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization,
today praised the European Commission (EC) for announcing that it will
up European Union’s contribution to the Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to €470 million for the
2017-2019 grant cycle, an increase of €100 million over the previous
three-year period.
The announcement officially launches the fundraising period for the
Global Fund, which will culminate in a pledging conference later this
year at a yet to be determined location, according to an EC press
release.
For the upcoming replenishment, the Global Fund set a target of $13
billion, which is $2 billion lower than the target for the preceding
replenishment. In 2013, while fundraising for the 2014-2016 cycle, the
Fund came up $3 billion short of the target.
The move by the EC will hopefully serve as an example and inspire
European donors to strengthen their commitments to the Global Fund. Last
year, AHF criticized
Denmark after it took the unprecedented and alarming step of
announcing that it would cut its contribution to the Global Fund by
nearly $20 million, after years of strong support by the Nordic state.
“We applaud the European Commission for the substantial increase in its
contribution to the Global Fund, despite the geopolitical challenges
facing the region right now,” said Loretta Wong, Senior Director
of Global Advocacy and Policy at AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “The EC
understands that the spread of infectious diseases is interwoven with
migration and political stability. Therefore, now is the time to scale
up, not down, the global response to AIDS, TB and malaria. We hope this
announcement will serve as a catalyst for other donors to announce large
increases in their contributions.”
The Global Fund is the largest multilateral funder of the response to
the three epidemics. It provides lifesaving antiretroviral treatment to
8.6 million people, TB testing and treatment for 15 million and has
distributed 600 million anti-malarial nets. Its continued success and
sustainability will be closely tied to the outcome of this year’s
replenishment.
“We are at a definitive point in the global fight on AIDS; this fact is
borne out by the health statistics and real-life circumstance on the
ground,” said Terri Ford, AHF Chief of Global Advocacy and
Policy. “More people than ever are accessing treatment, but the gaps are
still immense. We routinely hear of stockouts of essential supplies like
test kits, condoms and drugs around the world. If we want to beat AIDS,
this cannot be allowed to happen, because the alternative would be the
resurgence of the epidemic that we have fought so hard to contain and
reverse. The world must come together and scale up funding in a big way
– particularly the donor countries that have the resources to do more,
such as China, Germany and Japan.”
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS
organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to over
598,000 individuals in 35 countries worldwide in the U.S., Africa, Latin
America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn
more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org,
find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth
and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare
and Instagram: @aidshealthcare
Contacts
AHF
Ged Kenslea
Senior Director, Communications
+1.323.308.1833
work
+1.323.791.5526 mobile
gedk@aidshealth.org
or
Jacqueline
Burbank
Manager of Sales & Marketing
+1.323.208.1505
mobile
Jacqueline.burbank@aidshealth.org
