It HAS to be! We need to keep ensuring that it is.

A very good website which provides a detailed and independent commentary on the work of the Global Fund is at http://www.aidspan.org/index.php?page=home and there it is possible to see what is being achieved by the Fund.

The Global Fund was set up in 2001 after the United Nations General Assembly meeting on AIDS and is a unique and innovative partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities. Its history and principles are set out in an attractive publication http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/files/publications/brochure/gf_brochure_07_full_high_en.pdf

By November 2008 the Global Fund made grants of US$14.4 billion in 140 countries, (more than half for HIV/AIDS treatment) an incredible achievement, if not yet providing universal access.

Reading what it has achieved and by what methods, shows how vitally important it is not to allow these principles to get diluted by bilateral aid agreements. It may not be perfect, but it is closer to an ideal of universal humanitarian aid than any other process and needs to be maintained.

This is why ImpAcTAIDS will campaign to maintain the Global Fund.