Australia, South Africa Pledge Additional Funding to Global Fund
South Africa will provide an additional $140,000 to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang announced Tuesday, SAPA/Mail & Guardian reports (SAPA/Mail & Guardian, 7/4). Announcing the pledge at the Global Fund's annual partnership forum in Durban, South Africa, Tshabalala-Msimang said that South Africa from 2003 to 2007 has pledged $10 million and that the country remained committed to supporting the fund (Dlamini, BuaNews, 7/4). Jon Liden, the Global Fund's communication director, said the group welcomed the pledge and other donors would be spurred to make pledges, though he said the fund did not expect to receive any pledges in the next few days. Liden added that he expects more donations to come during the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations, which is scheduled for this month in St. Petersburg, Russia, as well as at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, which is scheduled for August, and at the U.N. General Assembly meeting in September (AFP/Yahoo! News, 7/4). In related news, Australia also plans to provide an additional $13 million to the Global Fund, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer announced in a statement (AAP/Sydney Morning Herald, 7/5). Australia so far has committed $56 million to the fund over four years (ABC News, 7/5). The fund needs an additional $5.5 billion to meet current commitments and anticipated proposals for next year, according to AFP/Yahoo! News (AFP/Yahoo! News, 7/4).
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