I may be retired from the news business, but I still know a good story when I see one. Reports now tell us that more children than ever are growing up free of deadly diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

Just 20 years ago, a very different picture was being painted. AIDS was ravaging an entire generation; hundreds of thousands of children were dying before their 5th birthday simply due to a single bite from a malaria-infected mosquito; and TB spread like wildfire in many impoverished communities, leaving family members sick and unable to work.

My dear friend, the late former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the fight against this loss of humanity “the greatest challenge of our generation” and quickly asked the United Nations Foundation, which I had recently launched at the time, to help be a part of the solution.

We joined with a range of partners to support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which brings together governments, advocates, and experts to mobilize resources, coordinate efforts, and invest in innovative programs that are turning the tide against these three devastating diseases.

The work of the Global Fund has changed the landscape when it comes to AIDS, TB, and malaria: 18.9 million more people are now living long lives with HIV treatment and 131 million mosquito nets were distributed just last year to protect children around the world from the threat of malaria. Because of public and private sector partners uniting to take a stand, the Global Fund partnership has saved nearly 32 million lives and reduced the number of deaths caused by these three diseases by 40% in countries where the Global Fund invests its support.

Think about that: 32 million lives saved. That’s more than three times the population of the state of Georgia being given the opportunity to live healthy, productive lives all because people came together in partnership to fight, refusing a world where AIDS, TB, and malaria are allowed to destroy our communities.

This is a good news story so far — but how it ends is still to be determined. Right now, the progress we’ve made against these diseases is very fragile and, in some cases, such as with malaria, it’s stalled due to insufficient resources and lack of political will to carry on the fight.

It’s up to all of us to decide whether we protect the progress we’ve made and keep moving forward or become complacent and watch on as these diseases gain ground once again. If we lose progress on health, so much more around the world is at risk — from the stability of communities to the productivity of businesses.

We’re a mere 10 years out from the 2030 deadline to achieve a better future for people and our planet to which we committed under the Sustainable Development Goals – the world’s shared to-do list, adopted by nations worldwide four years ago. The success of the Global Fund’s efforts is linked to the success of these global goals — from ending poverty to achieving gender equality to ensuring health for all.

On Oct. 10 in Lyon, France, many countries and private sector partners stood up for progress, pledging more than $14 billion for the Global Fund’s work over the next three years. While these pledges are very important, they are not enough. All of us, especially engaged citizens like you and me, need to keep raising our voices to make sure that the fight against AIDS, TB, and malaria remains a priority on the global agenda.

We need others to step up the fight and contribute to achieving the world that my friend Kofi envisioned. We need more compassion, more engagement and most importantly, more collective action than we currently see in our often-fractured world. I call on private sector partners, country governments, and global citizens to help us all deliver on our promise for a better world.

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The commitments were made on Thursday at the Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment Conference held in Lyon, France.

“I welcome the commitment made by so many donors under the auspices of France to fully finance the Global Fund for the next three-year period”, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, of UN health agency, WHO.

“This is critical to provide individuals and communities with the health interventions they need to prevent, diagnose and treat HIV, TB and malaria and to build better and stronger health systems”, he added.

Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund, said that “everyone in the room today felt the power of a global community coming together to say in one voice: ‘We will end these epidemics’”.

The international partnership raises, manages and invests money to support programmes in more than 100 countries that address the three diseases, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Fund reported that many donors at the conference stepped up their pledges, citing the urgency to take decisive action.

For example, the United States will provide $1.56 billion a year, maintaining more than 30 per cent of all contributions. France’s pledge of $1.29 billion included an extra $60 million announced by President Emmanuel Macron in a final push to meet the overall $14 billion target.

Private donors also pledged more than $1 billion, which is a Global Fund first. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation led efforts with a pledge of $760 million, while (RED) pledged US$150 million, alongside supporters such as Comic Relief, prominent businessman Sri Dato Dr Tahir, and the global pharmaceutical company, Takeda.

Replenishing the Global Fund is critical, said the World Health Organization chief: “It’s not just an investment in one organization or three diseases; it’s an investment in our shared vision of a healthier, safer and fairer world. Ultimately, it’s an investment in people”.

Maurine Murenga, who was diagnosed with HIV in the early 2000s, and who serves on the Global Fund Board, thanked all partners for recognizing the need to focus investments in programmes that specifically address the disproportionate effects of HIV on women and girls.

“Those of us who survived HIV are here thanks to the Global Fund, but millions are still dying unnecessarily because they cannot access these life-saving programs,” she said.

“Young women and girls have to be at the center of the response to HIV in Africa. It is unacceptable that young women and girls are still twice as vulnerable to HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and six times more vulnerable in the worst hit countries. We know change is possible and we have to act now.”

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The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Wednesday opened a drive to raise $14 billion to fight the global epidemics but face an uphill battle in the face of donor fatigue.

Host President Emmanuel Macron is to chair the final day of the two-day meeting in the French city of Lyon on Thursday and meet African heads of state.

The fund has asked for $14 billion, an amount it says would help save 16 million lives, avert “234 million infections” and place the world back on track to meet the UN objective of ending the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria within 10 years.

“I count on every one of you to bring together the financing necessary to give the Global Fund the means necessary to support the worst affected countries,” said French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn as the meeting opened.

“We are here to send a strong signal. A collective, universal and ambitious signal,” she added. 

The UN’s World Health Organization says 770,000 people died of HIV-related causes last year. Tuberculosis, a high risk for HIV-positive people, claimed some 1.7 million lives in 2017, and malaria more than 430,000.

– ‘Anything more a success’ –

The meeting is the sixth to replenish the fund since it was set up in 2002, with prominent supporters including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and U2 lead singer Bono in attendance.

But officials said ahead of the meeting that collecting such a large sum could prove challenging, especially as global attention moves from AIDS towards fighting climate change.

Anything more than the $13 billion pledged at the fund’s last meeting three years ago in Montreal “will be considered a success”, said an official in the French presidency.

Macron, however, made it clear at the UN General Assembly in September that he expected no less than $14 billion, saying “no-one any longer can understand” that people are unable to access medicines for the deadly disease trio.

NGOs insist even more is needed — as much as $18 billion. 

– ‘Less not acceptable’ –

Some countries have announced their contribution. The US is the number one donor with a $4.68 billion contribution voted by Congress.

Britain is set to pledge $1.7 billion and Germany $1.1 billion. It remains to be seen what France will contribute, although Macron has vowed it will be worthy of the country’s historical status as the Fund’s number two donor.

France also wants the private sector to play a bigger role, and the fund is seeking $1 billion of the total from the business world.

“No amount less than $14 billion will be acceptable,” the AIDES and Coalition PLUS NGOs said in a statement, urging France to ramp up its contribution by 25 percent.

“We are here to remember that behind this financial bargaining there are human lives,” said AIDES president Aurelien Beaucamp.

AIDES said that as things stand now, the meeting risks falling $200-$500 million short of its target.

Macron will meet leaders including Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou and Cameroon President Paul Biya, while Rwandan President Paul Kagame is also set to be in attendance.

The Global Fund groups states, NGOs and private firms to support public health programmes around the world, investing about $4 billion every year.

It says it has helped save 32 million lives and provided prevention, treatment and care services to hundreds of millions of people, while the number of deaths caused by AIDS, TB and malaria each year has been reduced by 40 percent since 2002 in countries where the Fund invests.

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Britain is pledging almost half a billion pounds a year to fight Aids, malaria and tuberculosis around the world.

Announcing the funding at the G20 summit in Japan on Saturday, Theresa May will call on leaders of the world’s largest economies to step up their own efforts to tackle the deadly diseases.

The UK’s three-year pledge will see around £467m a year given to the Global Fund, which provides medication for over 3 million people living with HIV, as well as treatment and care for 2 million people with tuberculosis, and 90 million mosquito nets to prevent malaria.

The prime minister is to tell G20 leaders: “We need urgent international action and a truly collective response if we are to tackle threats to global health security, prevent infections spreading across borders, and halt the continued spread of deadly diseases.

She will ask them to “follow the UK’s lead in supporting the vital work of the Global Fund and its relentless efforts to tackle Aids, malaria and tuberculosis around the world”.

The Global Fund says it needs to raise another £11bn at a conference in Lyon, France, in October, if it is to keep its work on track.

In 2016, Britain pledged to contribute £1.1bn over three years to the Global Fund to fight Aids, malaria and TB.

Since 2002, the fund is believed to have helped save more than 27 million lives in over 100 countries and to have reduced the number of deaths from the three diseases by more than a third. 

But Aids, malaria and tuberculosis continue to claim around 2.5 million lives a year, with a child dying from malaria every two minutes.

Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates said the UK’s pledge was “a positive step forward in the global fight against these diseases, and will help to save millions of lives”.

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