GENEVA, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the presidents of five African countries on Wednesday launched a fundraising campaign aiming at 18 billion U.S. dollars to restore progress against AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome), tuberculosis and malaria that has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In the face of the catastrophic impact of COVID-19 on the fight against HIV, TB and malaria, the choice is stark: We either increase funding, or we abandon hope of finally defeating these epidemics by 2030," said Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund. He thanked the presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and South Africa for co-launching the campaign.
According to the Global Fund's Results Report, significant progress against AIDS, TB and malaria has been lost because of the COVID-19 pandemic and global resource needs have increased, hence a fundraising target higher than that in 2019.
The Global Fund said in a statement that the 18 billion U.S. dollars would save 20 million lives between 2024 and 2026, and would reduce the mortality rate by 64 percent across the three diseases by 2026, relative to 2020 levels.
This sum would also help avert more than 450 million infections or cases, and reduce the death toll across the three diseases to 950,000 in 2026, down from 2.4 million in 2020 and from four million in 2005.
In return, the fund would yield 31 dollars for every dollar invested in fighting the three diseases, further contributing to the achievement of the overall United Nations Sustainable Development Goal.
"We must increase support to countries to build more resilient, sustainable and inclusive systems for health. This is crucial for ending HIV, TB and malaria, defeating COVID-19 and protecting people from future infectious disease threats around the world," Sands said. ■