Note: World Lung Foundation united with The Union North America. From January 2016, the combined organization is known as “Vital Strategies.”
(New York) – World Lung Foundation released today the following statement from Peter Baldini, Executive Director, urging G7 finance ministers gathered in Rome to address the funding shortfall at the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS and Malaria:
“World Lung Foundation urges the governments of the G7 to move immediately to fill the funding gap faced by the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The Global Fund provides a quarter of financing for AIDS globally, two‐thirds for tuberculosis, and three‐quarters for malaria. Yet there is a $5 billion gap in pledges from donor countries.
We remind global leaders that all G7 countries are represented on the Board of the Global Fund and have agreed in principle to ‘mobilize the resources necessary to meet increased demand expressed in the submission of quality proposals to the Global Fund.'
In this time of economic crisis, investments in AIDS, TB, and malaria are essential to the wellbeing of nations. Loss of productivity due to tuberculosis drains $16 billion from the annual incomes of the world's poorest communities, while resource needs to fight the disease are estimated to be $4.2 billion in 2009. The economic impacts of malaria are estimated to cost African countries $12 billion per year in lost GDP; compare that to $3.4 billion needed to prevent such losses. Finally, AIDS threatens to reduce GDP in African countries by up to 2.6%.
We urge the G7 Finance Ministers and their representatives in Rome to commit to fully funding the Global Fund and to bring new pledges to the table at April's Global Fund replenishment meeting in Spain.”