From Rose Ejembi and Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi

Ahead of the Seventh Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in New York City, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has pledged to support the fund with $10 million.

The Global Fund is the world’s best financing mechanism for fighting infectious diseases.

According to AHF’s President, Michael Weinstein, the pledge is one of the best investments donors can make in global health given the Global Fund’s outstanding track record of saving lives around the world.

He added that the Global Fund has demonstrated remarkable nimbleness in keeping existing programs going, while mobilising new resources for COVID-19.

Weinstein stated further that the Global Fund also values the role of non-governmental and community organisations in creating a more equitable and sustainable public health system.

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“We hope this pledge encourages wealthy donor countries, NGOs, and the private sector to contribute their fair share to the Fund so that it can meet or exceed the fundraising goal of $18 billion,” he said.

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Weinstein noted that donors, on Wednesday, gathered in New York to announce their commitments, including wealthy G7 and G20 countries stressing that the outcome of the meeting would determine whether the $18 billion goal can be achieved.

“The funding is vital for ensuring the Fund can continue its lifesaving work and expand its mandate to address other existing and future global public health challenges.

“AHF works in synergy with 31 Global Fund-supported countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe, by implementing HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment delivery, and advocacy programs and providing AHF Fund grants to assist other non-profit organisations.”

The AHF president maintained that the $10 million pledge will represent another facet of the collaboration with the Fund, positing that, “through its long-running Fund the Fund advocacy campaign, AHF has been a strong proponent of fully funding the Global Fund via robust international advocacy campaigns and government relations advocacy in Washington D.C. and throughout the 45 countries where it works.”

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a global non-profit organisation providing cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to over 1.6 million people in 45 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific region and Europe and it’s currently the largest non-profit provider of HIV/AIDS medical care in the world.