Global Fund to Fight AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria

Sir Robert Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations he has received on the level of his Department's funding for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Mr. Ivan Lewis
Since January 2009, the Department for International Development (DFID) has received representations, in the form of correspondence and parliamentary questions, from Members of Parliament on the level of UK funding to support the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. This was in the lead up to the Stop AIDS Campaign: Day of Action held on 24 March and the Global Fund Mid-Term Review of the Second Voluntary Replenishment Meeting in Spain between the 30 March-1 April.

I attended the Student Stop AIDS Campaign meeting on 24 March and held a question and answer session. The audience spoke passionately about the anticipated funding needs that the Global Fund would help respond to.

DFID has already made an unprecedented pledge to the fund of up to £1 billion between 2008 and 2015. Last year we set out in a memorandum of understanding with the Secretariat how we will commit £330 million for the current period, 2008-10. We also set out that we will commit an additional amount of £30 million in 2010 dependent on performance and results. The Prime Minister also announced in September last year a further £40 million in support to the Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria (AMFM) which will be hosted by the fund as part of its existing business.