More funds needed to fight AIDS, TB and malaria – Annan

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today thanked donors meeting in London for their contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria while urging that more resources be devoted to the cause in the interests of human progress.

Addressing the Fund's “Replenishment Meeting,” Mr. Annan pledged the UN's continued support for the mechanism, which was set up at his initiative. “The United Nations family and I remain fully committed to working with the Fund, particularly at the country level, to help overcome the obstacles to implementation, and that instruction has gone to all the UN agencies,” he said.

“I assure you, [we] will work on the ground to ensure that we put the Global Fund to effective use, and the resources go where they are needed.”

At the same time, he urged “significant increases in spending” to cover the cost of prevention, treatment, and care, as well as the necessary investments in building infrastructure and developing human resources.

Looking forward to next week's 2005 World Summit to be held at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Annan returned to a theme he has been stressing in the run-up to the event: the links among development, security and human rights. “I believe that you cannot have security without development, you cannot have development without security, and you will enjoy neither unless there is respect for human rights.”

The Global Fund, he added, “has a vital part to play in our struggle for human progress.”