News Releases

Global Fund-supported programs deliver AIDS treatment for 2 million people

01 December 2008

Geneva – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today announced that 2 million people living with HIV have been reached with lifesaving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment through AIDS programs it supports, a 43 per cent increase over results reported a year ago.

Global Fund-supported malaria programs have now distributed a cumulative total of 70 million insecticide-treated bed nets delivered to families at risk of contracting the disease. This represents a 52 percent increase over the quantity of 46 million nets which had been delivered one year ago.

The organization also reported progress in the fight against tuberculosis with more than 4.6 million people on effective TB drugs treatment. Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death among HIV-infected people; the World Health Organization estimates that TB accounts for up to a third of AIDS deaths worldwide.

The Global Fund provides nearly a quarter of all international resources to fight AIDS, as well as two-thirds of international funding to fight tuberculosis and malaria. These results are due to the hard work of in-country programs and all actors involved in the Global Fund partnership.

“There is a strong, continued progress in bringing medicines and bed nets to those who need it. As a result, millions of unnecessary deaths are being prevented,” said Dr Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “It proves that health programs work. They save lives, and they strengthen countries ability to protect its own citizens from disease.”

Results at a glance:

Intervention Dec 2007 Mid 2008 Dec 2008 Increase over one year
HIV
People on ARV treatment
1.4 million 1.75 million 2 million 43%
TB
Cases treated under DOTS
3.3 million 3.9 million 4.6 million 39%
Malaria
ITNs distributed
46 million 59 million 70 million 52%

Additional results showed that 62 million HIV counseling and testing sessions have been delivered to people; 3.2 million AIDS orphans and vulnerable children have been provided with basic care and support; 74 million malaria drug treatments have been delivered; 91 million people have been reached with community outreach services for one or several of the three diseases; and 8.6 million health or community workers have been trained to deliver services since the Global Fund started financing grants in 2003.

The other major financer of ARV treatment programs, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will also announce its own figures. PEPFAR and the Global Fund jointly support many AIDS treatment programs.

The results reported today are the aggregated results from individual programs supported by the Global Fund in 140 countries. Measuring performance is at the core of the Global Fund's performance-based financing system which only disburses money based on targets reached. The quality of the results is assured through the work of the Global Fund’s verifying agency in each country and independent data and systems reviews.

Last November, the Board of the Global Fund approved 94 new grant proposals worth US$2.75 billion over two years. It was the eighth time the Global Fund Board approved new proposals to support programs fighting the three diseases and it is the largest round in the history of the organization, well over twice the size of any previous round. It brings the Global Fund’s overall portfolio to US$ 15 billion in 140 countries.

The Global Fund also recently launched its newly re-designed website www.theglobalfund.org. The new site serves as one integrated online platform serving both as one of the main communication channels for the Global Fund and as a meeting and exchange place for anyone with an interest in the global fight against AIDS, TB and malaria. The new website is easier to navigate and is lighter so that downloading times will be reduced in slow Internet environments.