Global Fund general manager appeals for donations, calling fund a 'good deal'

Jul 11 2012

Gabriel Jaramillo, general manager of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, "took a new approach to appealing for donations last week, arguing to finance ministers from participating nations that the fund is a great investment," the New York Times reports. Calling investment in the fund "a good deal," Jaramillo, a former banker, "urged ministers meeting in Tunisia to 'put your skin in the game now, because the out-years will be much cheaper as your number of cases goes down,'" the newspaper writes. As an example of "cost-efficiency," he cited Namibia, which spends $120 million annually on HIV treatment -- half of which comes from the Global Fund -- and has seen a drop from 2,700 AIDS-related deaths per year to 56 per year over five years, according to the newspaper (McNeil, 7/9).