United Nations Foundation President Timothy E. Wirth Applauds the Achievements of the Global Fund on its Tenth Anniversary

United Nations Foundation President Timothy E. Wirth issued the following statement on the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

“A decade ago the United Nations General Assembly created the Global Fund. A bold,  unprecedented roadmap that brings people living with the disease, implementing countries, donor governments, private sector organizations, and community groups together to build effective partnerships to solve some of the most complex global health challenges.

“The Global Fund was established to raise and distribute money to combat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria in developing countries. Today, on its ten-year anniversary, we should applaud the Fund’s successes, commend its courage to learn from its mistakes and reconfirm our commitment to support efforts to prevent and treat people in countries that are most affected by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

“The Global Fund has translated funding into action. By providing billions of dollars to developing countries, it has expanded HIV prevention to millions, including half the world’s HIV-positive pregnant women in need of medicine to prevent transmission to their children, decreased the number of annual cases of tuberculosis since 2006 and reduced the number of malaria cases by 17 percent globally between 2000 and 2010.

“Since answering the United Nation’s call to action in 2001, the UN Foundation has mobilized resources and worked in close partnership with the Global Fund. In particular, the UN Foundation has been proud to partner with Product (RED) to raise more than $57 million for the Global Fund, and with the United Methodist Church in its Imagine No Malaria campaign, as well as the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and Lutheran World Relief in their Lutheran Malaria Initiative, which could result in up to $41 million for the Global Fund.

“If we want to continue to see success from these investments, we must reconfirm our commitments to the Global Fund. If we do and continue scaling up successful programs and interventions by 2015, we can dramatically reduce deaths from AIDS, end malaria deaths, and achieve significant declines in TB mortality. Investing in the Global Fund is in the best interest of us all. It will help improve the lives of millions of people and help ensure global stability and progress.”

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Background:  To learn more and see the Global Fund’s impact firsthand, watch “The Global Fund: 10 Years of Impact”.

About United Nations Foundation
The United Nations Foundation builds public/private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the United Nations through advocacy and public outreach.  Through innovative campaigns and initiatives, the Foundation connects people, ideas, and resources to help the UN solve global problems. The Foundation was created in 1998 as a U.S. public charity by entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner and now is supported by global corporations, foundations, governments, and individuals. For more information, visit www.unfoundation.org.