Global Fund Aims To Raise $12B by 2012, Chair Says

The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria aims to raise more than $12 billion by 2012, Global Fund Chair Rajat Gupta said Monday during a visit to Zambia, Reuters reports. Gupta said he is confident that the Global Fund can reach the target after having secured $100 million during the past 18 months. "The money we are mobilizing will help us mitigate the effects of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, especially in the worst affected countries," Gupta said.

Government figures show that about one million of Zambia's 12 million residents are HIV-positive and that about 300,000 need access to antiretroviral drugs, Reuters reports. Gupta told Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa that the country is making progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS. "The HIV prevalence in Zambia is unacceptably high and continues to be a source of grave concern," Mwanawasa said, adding that the country's HIV/AIDS situation is "further compounded by co-epidemics of tuberculosis and malaria" (Chilabi, Reuters, 3/10).