Health experts across Europe applaud the UK’s pledge to commit up to £1bn to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The UK’s announcement, together with France and the Nordic countries’ recent pledges, represents significant leadership in the battle to defeat some of the world’s top infectious disease killers. Health organisations are calling on the European Commission and European Union member states to join these efforts.
Aaron Oxley, Executive Director of RESULTS UK, said, “We’d like to thank the UK for their leadership in taking forward the fight against these devastating diseases of poverty. I’m proud that the UK is doing its part to bring about the end of these epidemics.”
Globally, almost 9 million people develop tuberculosis (TB) every year and the disease is responsible for 1.4 million deaths. Nearly all (98 percent) of TB deaths occur in low and middle-income countries. Since its inception, Global Fund supported programmes have diagnosed and treated 9.7 million individuals with TB. It currently provides almost 90 percent of all international financing for TB programmes, demonstrating the vital role it plays in responding to the global TB epidemic.
Jonathan Stillo, a medical anthropologist researching TB in Romania, explains, “The Global Fund has been incredibly important in Romania where it has helped provide a reliable supply of TB drugs in a context where there are scarce drug supplies and challenges around patients being able to access them. The Global Fund plays a critical role in the region at a time when there are no other funding options for TB.”
The Global Fund is the single largest and most important international donor for TB in the World Health Organisation European region where TB kills seven people every hour. Of the 27 countries with the highest burden of drug resistant TB, 15 of these are in the European region where the disease is concentrated among marginalised populations such as drug users, prisoners, migrants and people living with HIV.
The Global Fund is currently going through a ‘replenishment’ process this year designed to raise funds from donors for the next three years (2014-2016) and will convene a pledging conference in late 2013. A recent report estimated that 3 million fewer people will be treated for TB and 1 million lives unnecessarily lost if funding to the Global Fund is not scaled up, with similarly dire consequences for HIV/AIDS and malaria.
“We welcome the UK’s significant contribution to help defeat TB. We hope the European Commission and EU member states will join the UK in working to turn the tide against these three devastating diseases by increasing their own commitment to the Global Fund”, said Fanny Voitzwinkler, European Policy and Advocacy Manager, Global Health Advocates and member of the TB Europe Coalition.
Editors Notes:
• The TB Europe Coalition is an informal advocacy network of civil society organisations and individuals that share a commitment to raising awareness of TB and to increasing the political will to control the diseases throughout the WHO European Region and worldwide; www.tbcoalition.eu.
• A copy of the International Civil Society Support’s ‘Cost of Inaction’ report making the economic case for replenishing the Global Fund can be accessed here: http://icssupport.org/
Source: TB Europe Coalition