Ecobank urged the private sector to invest in global health at the launch campaign of The Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment Conference.
The event in Paris launched preparations for the Sixth Replenishment Conference of the Global Fund, which aims to raise new private and public funding for the organisation’s 2020-2022 programme.
As a longstanding partner, The Global Fund invited Ecobank to attend the launch event to help mobilise the francophone private sector. Ibrahima Diouf, Managing Director of Ecobank’s Paris subsidiary EBI SA, joined a panel session on ‘Investing in Global Health: The Power of Public-Private Partnership’. He shared with audiences how Ecobank leverages its core capabilities to contribute to Africa’s transformation by improving the efficiency and accountability of financial services. Other panellists included the Africa director of the telecoms company Orange.
27 million lives saved
Following the campaign launch, The Global Fund released its Results Report 2018, where it announced that over the past year 27 million lives have been saved. Some highlights:
17.5 million people received antiretroviral therapy for HIV last year
5 million people tested and treated for tuberculosis
Almost 200 million mosquito nets were distributed to prevent malaria
But new challenges are threatening the progress made: global HIV infection rates are declining more slowly, tuberculosis is now the leading cause of death from infectious diseases, and progress against malaria has stalled. It is therefore crucial that the international community remains mobilised at the highest level.
Under the patronage of French President Emmanuel Macron, The Global Fund’s Sixth Replenishment Conference will take place in Lyon, France, on 10 October 2019.