Japan Gives $184M to Global Fund Ahead of G8 Summit
Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura on Friday announced that the country has pledged $184 million to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Kyodo News/Japan Today reports. The new donation will bring the country's total contribution to the Global Fund to $850 million, according to the ministry (Kyodo News/Japan Today, 2/29).
Japan announced its pledge ahead of hosting the Group of Eight industrialized nations' summit in July in the northern resort of Toyako. Officials said they plan to put global health issues, including the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, at the top of the summit agenda. "Japan continues to support measures against infectious diseases on a global scale and to stress the role of the Global Fund to strengthen those measures towards developing countries," the ministry said (AFP/Economic Times, 2/29).
"We are grateful to the Japanese people for their generosity in the fight against infectious diseases," Global Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine said in a statement. "The continuous support from the Japanese government to the Global Fund shows the country's determination to help stem the spread of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria," he said, adding, "We appreciate Japan's trust in the Global Fund as an effective vehicle to reach millions of people infected with and affected by these pandemics" (Global Fund release, 2/29).
