
Almost 14 billion US dollars (£11.4 billion) has been raised to finance the global fight against Aids, tuberculosis and malaria over the next three years, French President Emmanuel Macron has said.
Hosting the conference in Lyon, Mr Macron said 13.92 billion US dollars (£11.3 billion) had been promised for the work – and he vowed to keep pushing for more.
A dozen heads of state and government, mostly from African countries, global health leaders and philanthropists including Bill Gates and Bono attended the Global Fund conference.
We asked the world to #StepUpTheFight. They did. $14 billion to end AIDS, TB and malaria. Thank you! pic.twitter.com/SeCupm0WSb
— The Global Fund (@GlobalFund) October 10, 2019
Mr Macron said that in a last-minute effort, France had raised its donation by 20% to 1.42 billion US dollars (£1.2 billion) – 60 million dollars (£48.7 million) more than previously announced.
The US Congress has approved a commitment to give a total of 4.7 billion dollars (£3.8 billion) over three years, while Britain has pledged £1.4 billion.
In his opening speech, Mr Macron said: “If we meet our commitments in the next three years, 16 million lives can be saved.”
Today we announced our pledge to the @GlobalFund replenishment to help make this headline true over the next three years #StepUpTheFight
? The Global Fund/Vincent Becker pic.twitter.com/A0D4V0N0jU
— Gates Foundation (@gatesfoundation) October 9, 2019
The donations from governments, philanthropic donors and the private sector will be used to finance health programmes in more than 100 countries.
Major recipients of the fund will be Nigeria, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.
The Global Fund said the money would help avert 234 million infections and try to get back on track to end HIV, tuberculosis and malaria as epidemics by 2030.
United Kingdom pledges £1.4 billion to the @GlobalFund – 16% increase. Thank you! #StepUpTheFight
Le Royaume-Uni promet 1,4 milliard de livres sterling au Fonds mondial – une augmentation de 16%. Merci ! #AccélérerLeMouvement@DFID_UK @AlokSharma_RDG pic.twitter.com/WZPQ0iY7sr
— The Global Fund (@GlobalFund) October 10, 2019
The organisation said the programmes it has supported since its creation in 2002 have saved 32 million lives.