Ireland Announces Increase in its Contribution to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria.

Ireland is to increase its contribution to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria to €25 million in 2008. The announcement was made at the Global Fund Replenishment Conference in Berlin which is being chaired by the ex-UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.

Commenting on the increase in funding, Minister of State for Overseas Development Michael Kitt said,

             “This represents a 25% increase on last year’s contribution to the Global Fund and demonstrates Ireland’s commitment to the prevention and control of communicable diseases in its development programmes. The Global Fund, with the support of Ireland and the international community, has made significant gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. However there is still a huge amount to be done in this area.”

Addressing HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases is one of Irish Aid’s key priorities and Ireland’s overall funding in this area is over €100 million annually.

The Global Fund was established in 2002 in response to the challenge presented by HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. These three diseases are not only the world’s biggest infectious disease killers, causing more than six million deaths per year; they have also resulted in the reversal of decades of health and development progress in many countries and the continuing devastation of families and communities around the world.

The Global Fund supports Governments and NGOs in countries worst affected by these diseases. Since its establishment in 2002, the Global Fund has saved an estimated 1.8 million lives. As a direct result of the Global Fund, 1.1 million HIV positive people are on anti-retroviral treatment; 2.8 million people are receiving TB treatment and over 30 million malaria bed nets have been distributed.

Note to Editors:

Ireland has contributed €80 million to the Global Fund since it was established in 2002. Irish Aid will enter into discussion with the Global Fund to place next years pledge within a three year multi-annual funding agreement. The Global Fund is the single biggest recipient of Irish Aid funding for HIV and other communicable diseases. Minister of State Kitt made his comments from Mozambique where he was visiting programmes supported by Irish Aid.