Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) today announced that it will commit an additional $25 million to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, raising its 6-year investment in the organization to $55 million. Chevron is now the single largest private sector donor to the organization. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is one of the largest funders of programs to fight global epidemics.
“Our increased investment and continued partnership with the Global Fund reflects our long-term commitment to fight these deadly diseases in regions of the developing world where we have some of our largest operations.”
"Socioeconomic development and strong economies start with healthy communities," said Rhonda Zygocki, Vice President, Policy, Government and Public Affairs for Chevron Corporation. "Our increased investment and continued partnership with the Global Fund reflects our long-term commitment to fight these deadly diseases in regions of the developing world where we have some of our largest operations."
Chevron Corporation became The Global Fund's inaugural Corporate Champion in January 2008, when it committed $30 million to support programs in Asia and Africa. The additional $25 million investment will help Chevron and The Global Fund build on significant results, which include:
- Helping more than 300,000 people living with HIV in Nigeria, Indonesia, South Africa and Thailand obtain access to life-saving antiretroviral treatments
- Supporting efforts to distribute nearly 1 million insecticide-treated bed nets in Angola
- Promoting peer education programs in South Africa that have reached 1.9 million young people
- Helping to detect more than 9,000 cases of TB
Chevron has been at the forefront of the fight against AIDS since 1986 when it joined 13 other Bay Area companies to promote education and reduce stigma in the workplace. In the 1990's, Chevron expanded efforts internationally and in 2005 the company implemented a global HIV/AIDS policy supporting employees and their families. Chevron initially chose The Global Fund as a partner in 2008 because its performance-based model provides an efficient and high-impact way to sustain healthy communities around the world. The Global Fund also places a major emphasis on measurement and evaluation of the programs it funds, ensuring that Chevron's investments are making a tangible difference to the people who need it most.
"We appreciate our partnership with Chevron, a company which is truly committed to results-driven collaboration," said Prof. Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. "The challenges facing us are bigger than any one sector can solve on its own. Governments, civil society and the private sector all have an important role to play in ensuring that we can deliver sufficient resources to treat those who are sick, to prevent new infections, and to improve the health of women and children. We need more companies to follow Chevron's commendable example."
The Global Fund is a unique global public/private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities represents a new approach to international health financing. The Global Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organizations to supplement existing efforts dealing with the three diseases.
Since its creation in 2002, The Global Fund has become the dominant financier of programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, with approved funding of US$19.4 billion for more than 600 programs in 145 countries. To date, programs supported by The Global Fund have saved 5.7 million lives by providing AIDS treatment for 2.8 million people, anti-tuberculosis treatment for 7 million people and the distribution of 122 million insecticide-treated nets for the prevention of malaria.
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