The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is raising billions of dollars to address the outbreak of the three diseases after the outbreak of the Corona virus decreased. For its part, France pledges to host an international conference before the end of the year for the reconstruction of the flood-affected areas in Pakistan.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Wednesday raised up to $14.25 billion, as world leaders strive to combat deadly diseases after the spread of the Corona virus stopped.
US President Joe Biden, who hosted the conference in New York on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, said the funding was needed to fight disease.
"This is an investment that will save 20 million more lives and reduce deaths from these diseases by up to another 64 percent in the next four years," he added.
The United States had said earlier that it would pledge $6 billion for the next funding cycle.
The fund, a Geneva-based public-private sector alliance, is seeking $18 billion for its next three-year funding cycle from governments, civil society and the private sector.
He had already collected more than a third of the total before Wednesday's conference.
The Global Fund said the $14.25 billion figure is likely to rise as more donations are expected.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also pledged 715 million euros ($703.63 million) to the fund, which she said represented a 30% increase over her previous donation.
"We can cure tuberculosis, we can prevent malaria, we can fight these terrible diseases, we will eliminate AIDS, we will eliminate tuberculosis and we will end malaria once and for all," she said.
For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged another 300 million euros, bringing France's total contribution to the financing period to 1.6 billion euros. Nigeria donated $13.2 million, the Netherlands provided 180 million euros and Indonesia donated $15.5 million, along with private sector pledges.
The fund said in its 2022 report that the scope of treatment and prevention efforts rebounded last year after it declined for the first time in nearly 20 years in 2020, but the world is still trying to defeat these diseases.
The fund estimates that its work has saved nearly 50 million lives since its inception in 2002.
The Fund warned that the war in Ukraine and the global food crisis could exacerbate the situation. Infectious diseases are usually more deadly for people whose bodies are weakened by malnutrition, and they also do not respond to treatment or prevention efforts.
Malaria outbreak in Pakistan
The Pakistani authorities announced Wednesday that malaria cases are spreading in the flood-stricken areas of the country, as the number of deaths due to the disease has reached 324, adding that the situation may get out of control if the required aid does not arrive soon.
Hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the floods are living in the open, and stagnant flood waters estimated at a distance of hundreds of kilometers, which may take two to six months to recede, have led to the spread of cases of skin and eye infections, diarrhea, malaria, typhoid and dengue fever.
US actress and humanitarian activist Angelina Jolie, along with the International Rescue Committee, visited people displaced by the floods, in an effort to raise awareness of the scale of the disaster.
It also visited the worst affected areas in the southern Sindh province. "I have seen lives saved," she said, noting that without adequate aid, others will not be here for the next few weeks.
Authorities and aid workers said more aid is needed for displaced families threatened by mosquito swarms and other hazards such as snake bites and dog bites.
France plans to host an international conference before the end of the year for the reconstruction of flood-affected areas in Pakistan.
The announcement came after a bilateral meeting between Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to a statement issued by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.