“It’s more than absurd to invest tens of billions of dollars in domestic and international resources to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria only to see patients die from another easily preventable and treatable disease and frequent co-infection.” That’s how Michel Kazatchkine, former executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, set the scene at the first hepatitis pledging conference in Geneva yesterday.
Describing a “thundering moral imperative to act,” he said “letting someone die or passing on their infection to their children is unforgivable when the diagnosis and treatment cost less than a dinner for two here in Geneva.”
Yet that’s what continues to happen. The Global Hepatitis Resource Mobilization Conference — co-hosted by The Hepatitis Fund, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, or CHAI, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt — kicked off a campaign Wednesday to raise an initial $150 million but very few financial commitments had been made by the end of the day.
About the author
Rebecca L. Root
Rebecca L. Root is a freelance reporter for Devex based in Bangkok. Previously senior associate & reporter, she produced news stories, video, and podcasts as well as partnership content. She has a background in finance, travel, and global development journalism and has written for a variety of publications while living and working in Bangkok, New York, London, and Barcelona.
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