Global Fund reports rise in people on treatment

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.