Monsieur le Président,
My brother Peter,
Excellencies, distinguished guests, dear colleagues and friends,
Thank you, President Macron, for your generous support of the Global Fund, and for hosting this replenishment.
My thanks also to the partners on whose behalf I am honoured to speak today: UNAIDS, the Stop TB Partnership, the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, UNITAID, the World Bank and the World Health Organization.
I have been fortunate in my career to see the incredible life-changing power of the Global Fund from three different perspectives:
First, as Minister of Health;
second, as Chairman of the board;
and third, as Director-General of WHO.
In each case, I have seen the transformative impact the Global Fund has in the lives of individuals, families, communities and nations.
And I have seen that the essence of the Global Fund’s success is partnership.
It can only deliver the results it does with the support of partners.
Conversely, as partners we can only do our work with the support the Global Fund provides.
We succeed or fail together.
And together, we have already achieved so much.
Since the Global Fund was created in 2002, deaths from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria have fallen by 40%.
But together, we still have a lot of work left to do. In the Sustainable Development Goals, the commitment we have made is not just to reduce the epidemics of AIDS, TB and malaria by 2030 – it’s to end them.
We must find and treat the missing millions with tuberculosis.
We must continue to accelerate the implementation of innovations in HIV prevention, testing and treatment.
We must accelerate progress against malaria, especially in the most-affected countries.
And we must continue to strive for universal health coverage in every country, built on strong primary health care that puts people first.
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Three weeks ago, 12 multilateral heath agencies, including the Global Fund and several of the technical partners, came together to launch the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives and Well-Being for All.
Together, we have committed to collaborate more effectively to deliver a greater impact in the lives of the people we serve.
That’s why the replenishment of the Global Fund is so critical.
It’s not just an investment in one organization or three diseases; it’s an investment in our shared vision of a healthier, safer and fairer world.
It says that the fight against infectious diseases can be won, and that our commitment to “end the epidemics” and “leave no one behind” are not empty slogans.
Ultimately, it’s an investment in people.
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My friends,
We have come so far. But we have not reached our goal. Every death from AIDS, TB and malaria is one death too many. Every case is one case too many.
Now is not the time to lose focus.
Now is the time to finish what we started.
Now is the time to make history – together.
Thank you.