Global Fund seeks £11bn as progress slows in fight against malaria, TB and HIV

pharmafile | January 14, 2019 | News story | Sales and Marketing Africa, Global Fund, HIV, TB, infectious diseases, malaria, tuberculosis 

The Global Fund is seeking £11 billion worth of investment in an attempt to save 16 million lives in the fight against malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. The fund aims to cut the number of deaths from malaria, TB and HIV in half, by 2023.

French President Emmanuel Macron backed the latest round of investment in stressing the need for worldwide collaboration in ending epidemics. The call comes after it was announced that progress had stalled in the fight against infectious diseases. A lack of funding paired with insecticide and drug resistance have led to slow progress in recent years.

Speaking to the BBC, the fund’s executive director Peter Sands said: “We’ve made extraordinary progress in reducing these deaths – but that progress has stalled. Coming in new to this post, I’ve been really struck by the strength of political support for the Global Fund across many different capitals.

“I’m not at all complacent about the challenge of raising the money we need – and obviously the geopolitical environment is complicated. But we are confident we have a strong investment case – and a demonstrable level of delivering impact.”

While antimicrobial resistance has led to an increase in deaths from TB, the massive increase in the number of young people in Africa may lead to a spike in infections. Meanwhile cases of malaria are on the rise after years of steady decline.  

Louis Goss

Related Content

FDA approves Roche’s test for malaria in blood donors

Roche has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its cobas …

Gilead and Merck share data from phase 2 trial of HIV treatment

Gilead Sciences and Merck (known as MSD outside of the US and Canada) have announced …

ViiV Healthcare shares interim data from phase 3 trial for injectable HIV treatment

ViiV Healthcare has announced results from an interim analysis of the phase 3 LATITUDE trial, …

Latest content