Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases (MDG 6)

Overview

Health throughout the world has improved significantly over the past few decades, but this benefit has not been widely shared: the greatest burden of disease continues to be borne by the poor. Globally, the number of people newly infected with HIV peaked in 1996 and has since declined to 2.7 million in 2008. However, the number of people living with HIV worldwide continues to grow, largely because people infected with the virus are surviving longer. Due to inequality, violence, and discrimination, women account for half the people living with HIV worldwide and nearly 60 percent of those infected in sub-Saharan Africa.

Half the world's population is at risk of malaria, and an estimated 243 million cases led to nearly 863,000 deaths in 2008. Of these, 767,000 (89 percent) occurred in Africa. Global production of insecticide-treated mosquito nets has increased fivefold since 2004―rising from 30 million to 150 million in 2009. Nearly 200 million nets were delivered to African countries by manufacturers during 2007-2009 and are available for use; nearly 350 million are needed to achieve complete coverage there. Funds disbursed to malaria-endemic countries rose from less than $0.1 billion in 2003 to $1.5 billion in 2009.

The universal burden of tuberculosis (TB) is falling slowly. Incidence fell to 139 cases per 100,000 individuals in 2008, after peaking in 2004 at 143 cases per 100,000. There were an estimated 9.4 million new cases of TB in 2008, up from 9.3 million cases in 2007 and 8.3 million in 2000. Of the total number of cases, an estimated 15 percent are among those who are HIV-positive.

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Canada's Contribution

In 2008, Canada committed to providing $450 million over three years to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in addition to the $530 million that CIDA had already provided to this fund. CIDA strongly supports malaria prevention and treatment activities through the provision of insecticide-treated nets and medicines to treat suspected malaria cases.

Similarly, Canada has played a leadership role in confronting the global challenge of TB. Canada was the founding chair of the STOP TB Partnership and the founding donor to the Partnership's Global Drug Facility, which has drawn substantial support from other donor countries and provided drugs to more than 10 million TB sufferers in more than 60 countries.

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Contributions from CIDA and its Partners

Greater accessibility to life-saving drugs: Canada has been the leading donor to the World Health Organization's efforts to scale up HIV prevention and AIDS treatment services. It provided $50 million to the organization's universal access plan focussing on the provision of much-needed medications through trained healthcare workers. In addition, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, to which CIDA is a contributor, estimates that Canadian funding has resulted in 2 million HIV-positive persons receiving vital HIV treatment.

Greater reach for treatment programs: In Zimbabwe, some 20,000 women have benefited from programs to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS :

• 14,000 women took part in education and awareness workshops about transmission
• 6,500 women received testing and counselling services
• 800 women and 650 infants accessed antiretroviral treatments

In 2008, through the integrated health systems strengthening component of the Catalytic Initiative to Save a Million Lives, CIDA funding through UNICEF helped to supply 25,000 new doses of artemisinin-based combination therapies to treat malaria in Ghana.

Greater reach for prevention and support initiatives: Beginning in 2002, CIDA began funding the mass distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets to prevent malaria. By December 2008, CIDA had funded the distribution of more than 7.9 million nets through UNICEF, the Canadian Red Cross, and World Vision. These nets will save an estimated 121,000 lives.

In the fight against TB, Canada focuses its efforts where they can have the highest impact :

• High-burden/high-prevalence countries
• People with limited access to health services
• Interventions that have proven cost-effective

The CIDA-supported expansion of TB medication and services has led to roughly 4  million more individuals being successfully treated for TB since 2000, averting more than half a million deaths.

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