Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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New Vision (Kampala) - October 16, 2002
Charles Wendo
In a statement issued on Friday, officials of the fund urged donors to double their contributions to raise the resources required to fight the epidemics.
Dr. Crispus Kiyonga, the chairman of the board, said AIDS, malaria and TB could claim nearly six million lives this year. He estimated that this would translate into economic loss of nearly US$120b in terms of productive years lost.
"The impact and pace of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria cannot be over-estimate," Kiyonga said. The pronouncement came at the end of the fund's board meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
The global fund estimates that an additional US$2b would be required in 2003 to scale up the fight against the three diseases. To-date, the fund has raised US$2.1b out of the US$10b required annually over the next five years.
The first round of grants was allocated to 40 developing countries including US$52m for Uganda. The second round of applications are being evaluated.
"The programmes are ready. Any delay will be measured by millions of lives lost and billions of dollars of additional costs to later respond to the expanded epidemics," Prof. Richard Feachem, executive director of the Global Fund, said.
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