“I am tremendously inspired by many women around the world who work under dire circumstances to make a difference for their families. One critical constituent of these women are those living with HIV,” Malawi President Joyce Banda writes in the Huffington Post’s “Big Push” blog. “In the last few years, tremendous gains have been made in prevention of mother-to-child transmission,” she states, noting, “In July this year, the global health community welcomed the one millionth baby born free from HIV.” She writes, “The milestone taught us that the collective efforts and shared responsibilities by different players around the world can be transformative” and “is symbolic of other remarkable achievements in the fight against disease that have been recorded around the world in the last decade.”

Noting “[m]alaria is a threat to these women and their babies, with up to 200,000 newborn deaths each year as a result of malaria,” Banda continues, “Through tools such as insecticide-treated nets and effective case management of malarial illness, the world has gotten much better in saving the lives of these women and children.” She states, “The advances recorded in the fight against these diseases can be attributed to better advances in science, better implementation and better investments in health,” adding, “Investments through bilateral and multilateral initiatives are saving millions of lives around of the world.” Noting the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria this month “announced an appeal to government and private sector donors for $15 billion for the next three years,” Banda concludes, “[W]e strongly urge all public and private donors to commit more finances towards the Global Fund replenishment this year. If we do this, we would make a tremendous difference to millions of women and children around the world, as a well as to millions of men who have to suffer and die from these preventable and treatable diseases” (9/23).