Global AIDS fund approves $2.9 billion in grants

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria has approved $2.9 billion over five years in its fourth round of grant awards. The grants will be used to pay for antiretroviral treatment for 932,000 HIV-positive people, finance 123 million antimalaria treatments, and pay for therapy for 640,000 TB patients. Many HIV-positive people in developing countries also suffer from TB, and the disease is a leading killer of people with AIDS in poor nations. The fund's pledges for the fourth round of grants currently total about $968 million. Since its inception the fund has committed $3 billion for 310 grants in 129 countries. About 70% of the fourth-round grants will go to low-income countries in Africa.