Tanzania secures AIDS grant on World AIDS Day

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has signed a new grant agreement worth $308 million. The beneficiary: Tanzania.

The grant, signed Dec. 1, will help provide more than 660,000 Tanzanians access to antiretrovirals, HIV testing and counseling, and other health products for the next three years, according to a press release. At the signing, Christoph Benn, director of external relations and partnerships at the Global Fund, said the grant “takes us closer to our goal of getting down to zero deaths and zero new infections.”

There are 4.2 million people getting HIV treatment from Global Fund-supported programs to date, according to new results announced Nov. 29. The number of pregnant women receiving ARV prophylaxis increased from 1.3 million in 2011 to 1.7 million this year. And those with access to HIV testing and counseling jumped from 190 million to 250 million in the same period.

These achievements underscore the key role of the fund in achieving an AIDS-free generation. Bill Gates, philanthropist and staunch supporter of the organization, said in a blog post marking World AIDS Day: “One of the best ways that people can support the fight against AIDS is to donate to the Global Fund.”

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