BRUSSELS - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced on Wednesday that it has finalized two new grant agreements wth Mali for malaria and TB, worth a total of EUR50 million, which will significantly improve access to health services and deliver treatment to tens of thousands of people.

The announcement was made at a high-level donor conference in Brussels, co-chaired by France, the European Union and Mali, to discuss and coordinate international efforts to provide aid for Mali following recent military and political uncertainty in the country.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced today that it is supporting Uganda in the distribution of over 15.5 million long lasting insecticide-treated nets.

Maseru, Lesotho – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced today that it is signing two grant agreements with the Ministry of Finance of Lesotho totaling US$17 million, to allow Lesotho to expand prevention and treatment of HIV and multidrug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

Lesotho has the third highest HIV prevalence in the world, at 24 percent, and the fourth highest estimated TB incidence. The TB-HIV co-infection rates are the fifth highest in the world and multidrug resistant TB is a growing challenge.

GENEVA - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria welcomed an announcement from Switzerland that it intends to increase its contribution to the Global Fund by 43 per cent in 2013.

Swiss Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter made the announcement on Monday after meeting the Global Fund's Executive Director Mark Dybul in the Swiss Federation's capital of Berne.

Esta Sitima lives far from a health center, so she brings her 4-month-old child with fever symptoms to a village health worker who is trained to diagnose and treat malaria. Esta already lost two children to malaria, but this time the odds of her child surviving are in her favor: Since these health workers - trained with support from the Global Fund - started treating children in the region, malaria death rates dropped dramatically in her village and nearby communities.

Take a journey and meet the men and women fighting to save a new nation’s children from the scourge of malaria:

GENEVA – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said today that new advances in science and implementation have given the global community the opportunity to control malaria and remove it as a threat to global health.

As people in many countries observe World Malaria Day on 25 April, the Global Fund said commitment is needed by all partners in the fight against malaria to expand and intensify efforts, so it can be transformed from a worldwide killer into a manageable and treatable disease.

Comme 70 pour cent des enfants de sa classe à Kimpese, dans le Bas-Congo, Fortunne (âgée de 13 ans) a contracté le paludisme voilà plusieurs mois. Après avoir été soignée à l’hôpital, elle est maintenant guérie et peut expliquer à sa classe comment éviter les piqûres de moustique qui provoquent le paludisme. Aujourd’hui, toute sa famille dort sous une moustiquaire imprégnée d’insecticide distribuée par un programme soutenu par le Fonds mondial.

Introduction

Part 1: Introduction