World Leaders Pledge Billions to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria
Facts
- On Wednesday, a donor conference on the sidelines of the UN's annual General Assembly raised a record $14.25B for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. World leaders seek to fight the deadly diseases after progress was delayed by the COVID pandemic.
- The fund started in 2002 and seeks $18B for the next three-year funding cycle from governments, civil society, and the private sector. Before Wednesday's conference, it had already raised more than a third of this total.
- US Pres. Joe Biden hosted the conference in New York and said the funding is crucial to combating the diseases. Under US law, Washington — which pledged $6B — cannot provide more than one-third of the funding, a limit designed to serve as a matching challenge for other nations.
- While the conference was met with new donors and saw a range of countries significantly increase their contributions, two of its major donors — Italy and the UK — have yet to announce their pledges.
- According to the fund's estimates, it has reduced the death toll from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria by 50% over the past 20 years, reportedly saving more than 50M lives.
- Of all international financing, the Global Fund provides 30% for HIV programs, 76% for tuberculosis initiatives, and 63% for malaria projects.
Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Although the job is far from done, the conference was a huge success and an encouraging display of global solidarity. The world has demonstrated that HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis can be defeated through science, leadership, and a critical mass of resources. This latest development should be celebrated.
Establishment-critical narrative
While this is a step in the right direction, unfortunately, it isn't enough. Even when the UK and Italy make their pledges, the total will likely not meet the planned target — a failure that will mean fewer screening campaigns, fewer treatments, less funding for community health centers, and less strengthening of health systems.
Nerd narrative
There's a 21% chance that the number of people globally living with HIV/AIDS in 2037 will be at least 36.9M as per the median estimate from UNAIDS, according to the Metaculus prediction community.