MONTREAL: An international donors conference kicked off in Montreal Friday with a goal of raising another US$13 billion for the fight to eradicate AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria -- by 2030.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hosting the fifth triennial Global Fund replenishment conference to fight against these diseases, with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and a half dozen heads of states also in attendance.
Created as a public-private initiative, the Global Fund has so far spent US$30 billion on programs to fight the three deadly diseases around the world, with most of it going to Africa.
It has been credited with helping to save 22 million lives and preventing 300 million infections over the past decade as it pursues a UN target of eradicating AIDS by 2030 and the other diseases even sooner.
But it needs to raise another $13 billion to fund its operations over the next three years through 2019.
Joining political leaders will be Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, whose foundation has contributed a total of US$1.6 billion to the Fund since its inception, as well as U2 frontman Bono.
Bono is also co-founder of the non-profit ONE that works to reduce poverty and disease in Africa, and will be a guest speaker at the forum.
While more than 100 countries have received assistance from the Fund, more than 70 percent of its spending has gone to African countries, according to Global Fund spokesman Seth Faison.
Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda have received the most.
The Fund has brought enormous heft in the fight against disease, with encouraging results.
Since 2005, the number of deaths from AIDS has dropped by one third with nine million people receiving anti-viral treatments, Faison said.
During the Montreal conference, donor nations will publicly announce their contribution. The goal is to have collected US$13 billion in pledges by the end of the conference Saturday night.
Early pledges have already brought the Fund to within 85-90 percent of that objective, Faison told AFP.
The United States, which has provided nearly one-third of the total funding so far, has pledged another US$4.3 billion, he said.
The second biggest donor, France, announced in June it would provide US$1.2 billion, maintaining its current level of commitment.
It was followed by Germany, which is pledging $900 million, Japan at $800 million and Canada, which has boosted its pledge by 20 percent to $600 million.
The Fund´s managers are still waiting to hear from Britain.
France, represented by Secretary of State for Development Andre Vallini, has faced criticisms before the opening of the conference.
Five NGOs, including Sidaction, Global Health Action, Oxfam France, denounced in an open letter a proposal to cut by 20 percent to Unitaid, a global health initiative to reduce the costs of drugs and treatments for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Officials have not confirmed they are considering the measure.
"Such disengagement from France would be incomprehensible and would have worrying consequences for global health," said the signatories.
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