Japan's Contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria

March 22, 2004

On March 22 (Mon), Japan contributed about 70 million dollars to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The present contribution constitutes a part of an amount of up to 100 million dollars that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pledged at the Japan-ASEAN Special Summit in December 2003 to contribute to the Fund. Japan has already pledged twice contributions totaling 265 million dollars. Including the present contribution, Japan has already paid a total of 230 million dollars.
At present, the three infectious diseases of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are rampant, depriving six million people of their lives every year. AIDS, in particular, has been spreading year after year throughout the world including Asia, and it is estimated that the number of people who are already HIV-positive has reached somewhere between 34 and 46 million. In such circumstances, Japan has been making wide-ranging bilateral and multilateral efforts to control infectious diseases by steadily implementing the "Okinawa Infectious Diseases Initiative," announced at the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit in 2000, and by extending financial and personnel assistance to the Fund.

(END)