“The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has set the target of raising $15 billion to help countries fight the three infectious diseases in the 2014-2016 period, its Executive Director Mark Dybul said … on Monday,” Xinhua reports. “For the next three years, the projected $15 billion, when used in combination with other funding, would mean that over one million new infections of HIV each year could be prevented, 17 million tuberculosis patients could be treated and millions of new cases of malaria could be prevented, according to the Global Fund,” the news service writes (4/8). “The $15 billion target is an increase of almost 50 percent over what was pledged for 2011–2013,” according to an article in the Global Fund Observer, which notes the Global Fund published a “Needs Assessment” on April 8 that contains the estimates (Garmaise, 4/9).

“Together with other funding, including an estimated $37 billion from domestic sources in implementing countries and $24 billion from other international sources, a $15 billion contribution to the Global Fund would allow the collective work to address close to 90 percent of the global resource needs to fight these three diseases, estimated at a total of $87 billion,” a Global Fund press release states (4/8). “The battle against AIDS alone will cost some $58 billion in 2014-16, [the fund] said, with tuberculosis needing $15 billion and malaria $14 billion,” according to Agence France-Presse (4/8). “The Global Fund is convening a donor’s conference in Brussels on 9 and 10 April to present an overall needs assessment for the 2014-2016 period and an update on results and impact from recent years,” the press release notes (4/8). The “two-day meeting in the Belgian capital … is meant to prepare for a pledging conference later this year,” Devex adds (Rosenkranz, 4/9).