GATES FOUNDATION GIVES $500 MILLION TO GLOBAL FUND

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has received a commitment of $500 million over five years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The announcement comes the week before the International AIDS Conference in Toronto.

Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, praised the grant, saying, "The Global Fund has provided us with the support we need to drive back AIDS and other diseases, and I am happy to see that this contribution will help it continue to do so for years to come."

"With the support of the Global Fund, Tanzania has begun to make inroads against the terrible toll of the three diseases," said Lucy Ng'ang'a, executive director of the Eastern African National Network of AIDS Service Organizations.

This grant brings the Gates Foundation's total support for the Global Fund to $650 million. The foundation pledged $100 million in 2001 and an additional $50 million in 2004.