*EPF511 07/02/2004
Text: Global AIDS Fund Approves Grants to Treat Over 900,000 People
(Latest commitment of $970 million pushes two-year total over $8 billion) (880)

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has approved a $968 million package of new grants for communities suffering from these diseases in a meeting that concluded June 30.

The disease-fighting projects approved by the international, Geneva-based board of the fund will put 932,000 people on anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS and finance 123 million anti-malarial treatments if the projects are successfully carried out through their planned five-year lives.

It is the fourth time since its creation in 2002 that the governing board of the fund has met to approve funding of project proposals. In that history, the fund has approved proposals totaling more than $8 billion, an amount that will support drug treatment for 1.6 million HIV-infected people and 160 million malaria treatments.

Nearly 70 percent of the funds are devoted to projects proposed in Africa, which is home to the world's largest population of HIV-infected people.

Following is the text of the global fund press release.

(begin text)

The Global Fund
To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
[Geneva]

Press Statement
OTHER PRESS RELEASES

Wednesday, 30 June 2004
US$ 968 MILLION COMMITTED FOR NEW GLOBAL FUND GRANTS

In its latest round of funding approvals, the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has committed US$ 968 million to new grants over two years.

These 69 country grants, which are approved with an initial funding commitment for the first two years, have a lifetime of five years. Over the full five years the grants will put 932,000 people on antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. They will also finance 123 million ACT anti-malarial treatments, 44 million impregnated bed nets and DOTS treatment for 640,000 new tuberculosis patients.

This is the fourth round of grant approvals since the Global Fund was established in 2002 and brings the total Global Fund two-year commitments for all four rounds of funding to $3 billion for 307 grants in 128 countries and two regions.

More than 85 percent of the money approved in this round will go to low-income countries. Nearly 70 percent will go to Africa, 48 percent will be for HIV/AIDS, while 40 percent will be spent on malaria.

Over four rounds and the full five-year terms of all programs approved to date, the Global Fund is investing over US$ 8 billion and will finance ARV treatment for 1.6 million people, DOTS treatment for 3.5 million patients, 160 million ACT treatments, 108 million impregnated bed nets, and voluntary HIV/AIDS counseling and testing for 52 million people.

"Global Fund money will save millions of lives and prevent disease in millions more," says Tommy Thompson, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and Chair of the Global Fund Board. "We are working hard to ensure the Global Fund is sustainable and vital into the future so people living with AIDS and infectious diseases receive the life-saving care they need."

Since its creation in 2002, the Global Fund has become the world's premier financing mechanism in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The three diseases kill more than six million people each year.

The Global Fund provides grants to locally-developed programs to prevent and treat AIDS, TB and malaria. Countries and organizations may apply for funding by submitting proposals in ongoing funding rounds. Proposals are first screened for eligibility by the Secretariat and are then forwarded to an independent Technical Review Panel of experts in the diseases who assess proposals for technical merit and consistency according to proven best practices. In January, the Global Fund issued its fourth call for proposals for grant funding with an application deadline of early April.

"The Global Fund grants will make a considerable contribution to beating back the three epidemics of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria," says Professor Richard Feachem, Executive Director of the Global Fund. "For the Global Fund, these grants are only a start, but, I believe they will begin to change the three pandemics. We expect to see a noticeable reduction in mortality in a few years, in particular from malaria."

The Global Fund is a unique global public-private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities represents a new approach to international health financing. The Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organizations to supplement existing efforts dealing with the three diseases.

The Global Fund is an independent private foundation under Swiss law, governed by an international Board. Apart from a high standard of technical quality, the Global Fund attaches no conditions to any of its grants. It is not an implementing agency. It relies on local ownership and planning to ensure that new resources are directed to programs on the frontline of this global effort, reaching those most in need. Its performance-based approach to grant-making - where grants are only disbursed if progress has been measured and verified - is designed to ensure that funds are used efficiently and create lasting change for people and communities.

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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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