Global Fund Reports that the Number of People Receiving Services Continues to Rise Sharply

Author:

David Garmaise

Article Type:

Article Number: 1

ABSTRACT By December 2010, programmes supported by the Global Fund were providing antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to 3.0 million people living with HIV, and directly observed therapy short course (DOTS) to 7.7 million people with TB. The number of malaria cases treated in 2010 was 170 million.

By December 2010, programmes supported by the Global Fund were providing antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to 3.0 million people living with HIV, an increase of 20% compared to December 2009, according to data provided by the Fund. Global Fund-supported programmes were also providing directly observed therapy short course (DOTS) to 7.7 million people with TB, an increase of 28%; and had distributed 160 million insecticide-treated mosquito bed nets, an increase of 53%. In 2010 alone, 56 million bed nets were distributed. The number of malaria cases treated rose to 170 million in 2010 from 108 million in 2009, an increase of 77%.

As a result, the Global Fund says, more than 6.5 million lives have been saved. Each day, 4,400 deaths are averted.

Since the Global Fund started in 2002, programmes supported by the Fund have provided one million pregnant women with a complete course of antiretrovirals to prevent transmission of HIV from mothers to their children. In addition, 5.0 million basic care and support services have been provided to AIDS orphans and vulnerable children; 150 million sessions of HIV counselling and testing have been provided; and 2.7 billion condoms have been distributed.

The Global Fund says that it now provides one-fifth of international resources to fight AIDS, as well as 63% of international funding to fight tuberculosis and 60% of international funding to fight malaria.

Note: As indicated above, these accomplishments are attributable to programmes that the Global Fund has supported. This does not mean that the Global Fund alone can take credit for this; many of these programmes have also been supported by national governments and other donors.

Most of the information for this article was obtained from “Global Fund-Supported Programs Deliver AIDS Treatment For 3 Million People,” Global Fund press release, 1 December 2010.