Fund to Battle AIDS, Malaria, TB Gets $750 Million

Posted January 26th, 2012 at 9:15 am (UTC-5)
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The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, which is credited with saving millions of lives, is slated to get $750 million to continue its work.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation renewed its commitment to the fund on Thursday during an annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The global fund was formed 10 years ago and has been used to help citizens, scientists and governments discover new and innovative ways to fight the diseases.

The Global Fund says its strategy has saved the lives of more than 6.5 million people around the world. It predicts the programs it supports will save more than one million additional lives this year.

The fund says nearly half of all people receiving HIV treatment in low and middle-income countries receive its support. It also says 65 percent of all malaria treatments and nearly 85 percent of all tuberculosis treatments are provided by programs that it supports.

Global health organizations say the highest number of AIDS and malaria cases are in sub-Saharan Africa, and the continent also has one of the world's highest tuberculosis-related death rates.