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Issue 00607 |
March 13 - 19, 2010 |
issn 0856 - 9135 |
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Society |
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Health ‘A world where no children are born with HIV is possible by 2015’ Virtual elimination of mother to child HIV transmission by 2015 is now within reach if current rates of progress by Global Fund-supported programs and other efforts are maintained. Malaria may be eliminated as a public health problem within a decade in most countries where it is endemic. Tuberculosis prevalence in many countries is declining and the international target of halving TB prevalence could be met by 2015. These are projections from the Global Fund’s 2010 Results Report, released this week. They are contingent on the current rate of scaling up of health investments for the three diseases being at least maintained and ideally accelerated further. “A world where no children are born with HIV is truly possible by 2015,” says Professor Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “It is also possible now to imagine a world with no more malaria deaths, since already an increasing number of countries have been reporting a reduction in malaria deaths of more than 50 percent over the past couple of years. No other area of development has seen such a direct and rapid correlation between donor investments and live-saving impact as these investments in fighting AIDS, TB and malaria.” According to the report, Global Fund-supported programs saved at least 3,600 lives per day in 2009 and an estimated total of 4.9 million since the creation of the Global Fund in 2002. These are people who would otherwise be dead, had it not been for interventions supported by the Global Fund. “The Global Fund is about getting results. This report clearly shows the world’s investments are making a difference,” said Mr Michel SidibĂ©, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “However AIDS is not over in any part of the world and without a fully funded Global Fund, our shared dream of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment care and support could become our worst nightmare—putting the lives of millions of people currently on treatment in jeopardy and millions of pregnant women in a position not able to protect their babies from becoming infected.” The Results Report forms part of the documentation for donors in preparation for the Global Fund’s replenishment conference in October 2010 in New York, where the organization will ask donors for financial contributions for 2011-2013. This is the third time since the Global Fund was established in 2002 that donors are being asked to replenish its finances. At an initial Replenishment review meeting to be held in The Hague on 24 March, the Global Fund is presenting three resource scenarios for consideration to donors, each with an indication of the results that could be expected in terms of achievements on the ground at the end of the replenishment period. The different scenarios range from US$ 13 to 20 billion for the three-year period. By the end of 2009, Global Fund-supported programs provided antiretroviral treatment to 2.5 million people, treatment to 6 million people who had active TB and had distributed 104 million insecticide-treated nets to prevent malaria. In addition to averting at least 3,600 deaths daily, the programs prevent thousands of new infections and alleviate untold suffering and economic loss for poor families in 144 countries. Established as a public-private partnership to mobilize and intensify the international response to the three global epidemics and help achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Global Fund has disbursed US $10 billion for HIV, TB and malaria efforts through December 2009. The coming years will see even more results, as half of the total disbursements by the Global Fund were delivered in 2008 and 2009. In addition, much of the US$ 5.4 billion of financing approved in the last two rounds of proposals (8 and 9) will reach countries in 2010 and 2011, and will continue to significantly boost health outcomes. The progress in combating AIDS, TB and malaria as a result of these investments has also had a positive impact on child mortality and maternal health. The MDGs call for halting and reversing the major diseases as well as reducing child mortality and improving maternal health by 2015. Global Fund grants have made significant contributions to reducing the largest causes of mortality among women and children. This is particularly the case in sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV, TB and malaria are responsible for 52 percent of deaths among women of childbearing age and malaria alone accounts for 16 to 18 percent of child deaths.
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