Wednesday, March 18, 2009

a post from the (RED) blog

Congress Approves Bill with $900 Million for the Global Fund

We’d love to share some great news with everyone that came in late yesterday. The U.S. Senate voted to pass H.R. 1105, the Omnibus Appropriations bill including $900 million for the Global Fund. As some of you may know the Global Fund is the leading financer of programs to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. (RED) is the Global Fund’s largest private sector contributor as a direct result of your (RED) purchases. Up to half of the profits of all (RED) products are contributed to the Global Fund, and every dollar raised is effectively and immediately translated into lives saved. At the end of 2008, Global Fund-supported programs had averted more than 2.5 million deaths by providing AIDS treatment for two million people, anti-tuberculosis treatment for 4.6 million people and 70 million insecticide-treated bed nets for the prevention of malaria.

The Global Fund is hard at work utilizing grant money in 140 countries in efforts to prevent and ultimately eradicate these diseases, with Rwanda, Ghana, Lesotho and Swaziland specifically receiving (RED) funds to fight AIDS. With an astonishing number of people living globally with these preventable diseases there is an urgent and dire need for funding. But a little goes a long way and every bit helps. To put it into perspective the approximate cost of keeping someone with HIV on antiretroviral therapy is at a cost of 43 cents a day. And the purchase of an ipod nano (PRODUCT) RED could support more than 3 weeks of medicine for one individual - imagine what can be done with this $900 million.

So thanks to the work of the United States Congress on this bill and each and everyone’s dedicated support of the Global Fund and the (RED) idea we are truly making a difference. To read more on the Senate’s approval of this bill click here.