THE PROBLEM •   EVERY YEAR, TUBERCULOSIS (TB) KILLS MORE THAN 2 MILLION PEOPLE •  TODAY, 25 000 PEOPLE WILL DEVELOP ACTIVE TB •   EVERY DAY, 5 000 TB PATIENTS WILL DIE OF TB and it is getting worse... •   BY 2005, THERE WILL BE ANOTHER 9 MILLION NEW CASES THE SOLUTION •   DOTS: the internationally recommended TB control strategy: but progress in expanding DOTS is slow: only 30% of infectious TB cases are treated under the DOTS programme partly because of problems with drug shortages. • The Global TB Drug Facility  (GDF) was founded by the Stop TB Partnership (hosted by the World Health Organization) as a solution to these problems: – in only 26 months, the GDF has provided 1.9 million patients in 46 countries with free anti-TB drugs, –   it has awarded 11 countries emergency grants of anti-TB drugs, –    it has visited 28 grantee countries to provide technical assistance, –   it has reduced drug prices by 30% to less than US$ 10 for a 6-8 month course of treatment. Sustaining the solution •   The GDF requires a total of US$ 55 million dollars to sustain operations in 2004 and 2005, •   2004 will see a projected funding gap of nearly US$ 25 million, •   2005 will see this figure rise to over US$ 30 million. The GDF is now actively seeking donors for 2004 and 2005. Dispelling a myth The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM) is NOT a funding solution for the GDF. Why? Only 8 out of the 47 countries who receive or are going to receive GDF support also have
GFATM proposals. Furthermore, these proposals do not meet all the country’s drug needs. These countries still need the GDF.