As I write, I am en route to Bangladesh, courtesy of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. I will be visiting several programs in Dhaka and Chittagong that the Global Fund supports to prevent and treat those three deadly diseases.
For those unaware, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria was created in 2002 as a way for donors to coordinate efforts to fight the three most deadly communicable diseases in the developing world. According to their website, since 2002 $21.7 billion has been committed for more than 600 programs in 150 countries. And, “programs supported by the Global Fund have saved 6.5 million lives through providing AIDS treatment for 3 million people, anti-tuberculosis treatment for 7.7 million people and the distribution of 160 million insecticide-treated bed nets for the prevention of malaria.”
The United States is the single largest donor to the Global Fund. The Obama administration has pledged $4 billion between 2011 and 2013, though the precise figure that is remitted may change as funding goes through Congress. In 2010, the United States gave about $1 billion to support Global Fund projects.
I am looking forward to meeting some of the people that these funds help. Throughout the week, I will be posting photos and videos that I hope will give some context to the policy questions about global health spending that is going on in Washington and in capitals across the world.
Please check back throughout the week and let me know what you think.