Unitaid salue la nouvelle contribution de 50 millions de dollars de la Fondation Bill & Melinda Gates

Genève – Unitaid se félicite de la prolongation du partenariat à long terme avec  la Fondation Bill & Melinda Gates par un nouvel engagement de 50 millions de dollars, qui porte à 150 millions de dollars la contribution totale apportée par la fondation à Unitaid depuis 2006.

La Fondation Bill & Melinda Gates exprime, avec cette nouvelle contribution, son enthousiasme pour son étroite collaboration avec Unitaid afin de favoriser des innovations en santé qui permettront d’élargir l’accès à la prévention, au diagnostic et au traitement du VIH/sida, de la tuberculose et du paludisme pour les personnes qui en ont le plus besoin mais qui vivent dans les pays aux ressources les plus limitées. La subvention sera versée sur une période de cinq ans.

Évoquant la contribution, Bill Gates, coprésident de la Fondation Bill & Melinda Gates, a déclaré : « Unitaid est un partenaire important à la fois pour notre fondation et pour la communauté de la santé mondiale dans la lutte contre le VIH, la tuberculose et le paludisme. Sa capacité à déployer des technologies sanitaires innovantes contribue à sauver et à améliorer des vies dans le monde entier. »

Les investissements d’Unitaid sont un moyen efficace d’apporter des solutions innovantes et de qualité en matière de santé, qui, à terme, profiteront à des millions de personnes. Le déploiement de ces avancées à grande échelle par les pays et les partenaires, permet de sauver des centaines de milliers de vies supplémentaires et représente d’énormes économies pour les systèmes de santé des pays aux ressources les plus limitées.

« Le soutien de la Fondation Bill & Melinda Gates nous aide à nous rapprocher d’un monde dans lequel on puisse vivre sans les trois pandémies », a expliqué Lelio Marmora, Directeur exécutif d’Unitaid. « Nous sommes heureux de poursuivre ce partenariat dynamique dans la décennie à venir. »

Créée en 2006 par le Brésil, le Chili, la France, la Norvège et le Royaume-Uni dans le but de proposer une approche innovante en matière de santé mondiale, Unitaid a déjà investi plus de 2 milliards de dollars dans des solutions innovantes pour la santé, que les organisations partenaires peuvent ensuite déployer à grande échelle et rendre largement accessibles.

Dans le cadre de sa nouvelle stratégie établie en 2016 pour une durée de cinq ans, Unitaid prévoit de maintenir son engagement concernant les trois maladies mentionnées précédemment, tout en favorisant une approche plus intégrée en matière de santé, en particulier dans le domaine de la santé reproductive, maternelle, néonatale et infantile.

Unitaid soutient actuellement des projets ayant pour objectifs la mise à disposition des kits de test d’autodépistage du VIH à grande échelle, le lancement d’une nouvelle génération de médicaments de pointe contre le VIH dans les pays à revenu faible et intermédiaire, la mise au point de meilleurs traitements pour la tuberculose pharmacorésistante, l’élaboration de nouveaux traitements pour les formes sévères de paludisme et la prévention des décès dus aux paludisme chez les femmes enceintes et les nouveau-nés.

Contacts pour les médias

Andrew Hurst, Unitaid, Geneva – tel. +41 22 791 3859, hursta@unitaid.who.int

Unitaid Executive Board member wins human rights award

 

Gracia Violeta Ross Quiroga, Bolivian human rights activist and Unitaid Executive Board member, has been named one of 15 winners of the 2017 Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law.

Ross is founder and president of REDBOL—the Bolivian network of people living with HIV, and a leading international figure in the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.

She is a member of the Committee against Racism and All Forms of Discrimination in Bolivia; the Committee on Tuberculosis and HIV; and vice president of the National Council on HIV. She represents communities living with HIV, TB and malaria on Unitaid’s Executive Board.

The Franco-German Council of Ministers established the award in 2016 to recognize committed human rights defenders from around the world who have done outstanding work in their respective countries to uphold human rights and the rule of law.

 

Unitaid salue la nomination de Peter Sands à la direction du Fonds mondial

Geneva – Unitaid warmly welcomes the appointment of Peter Sands as the new Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

“I am delighted that Peter Sands has been chosen as the new Executive Director of the Global Fund,” said Unitaid’s Executive Director, Lelio Marmora. “Peter Sands combines outstanding managerial talent and financial acumen with a deep understanding of global health challenges. I greatly look forward to working with him.”

Since Unitaid’s creation in 2006, the Global Fund has been one of its most important strategic partners, working to introduce Unitaid’s interventions on a massive scale.

Sands, a former chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank with expertise in global health and financial regulation, will lead the implementation of the Global Fund’s 2017-2022 strategy, which seeks to maximize impact against the diseases and build sustainable health systems in lower income countries.

Un groupe de travail dirigé par Unitaid étudiera comment lutter contre la résistance antimicrobienne grâce à l’accès à des traitements et des diagnostics innovants

Geneva – Unitaid has been chosen to chair a new working group on innovation and access for the UN’s Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (IACG), a role that supports global efforts to avert a “post-antibiotic era” in which treatments for common infections no longer work.

The subgroup led by Unitaid will present recommendations to the IACG on how investments in innovation, research and boosting access can be harnessed to respond to the global threat of drug-resistant infections.

“The work of IACG is critical to find solutions to the global challenges of emerging resistance in human, animal and plant health,” said Unitaid’s Executive Director Lelio Marmora, who will head the subgroup. “We look forward to working with the other members of this group to look at these challenges holistically, and to developing actionable recommendations.”

A meeting of the IACG in Paris this week also decided the working group members would include: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), UK Chief Medical Officer Sally Davies, The Global Fund, South Centre, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and others. The subgroup was formed this week during a high-level conference in Berlin on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

The United Nations Secretary-General established the ad hoc IACG in 2016 in response to mounting global concern about antibiotics losing their effectiveness. The group’s objective is to provide practical guidance that will ensure a sustained offensive against drug resistance. The group will produce an interim report for the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in September, 2018.

According to the World Health Organization, antimicrobial resistance threatens the prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi. Globally, 480,000 people develop multi-drug resistant tuberculosis each year, and drug resistance is starting to complicate the fight against HIV and malaria. Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”.

Tackling resistance is a high priority in Unitaid’s 2017-2021 strategy, and essential to reaching global health targets. Unitaid invests half its portfolio—US$ 500 million—in innovative grants to combat resistance in low-and middle-income countries. If additional funding is available, Unitaid is committed to dramatically increasing its investments in AMR.

Unitaid joins Call to Action on antimicrobial resistance in Berlin

Unitaid is at the forefront of efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and invests half its portfolio in innovative grants to combat resistance in low- and middle-income countries. As a member of the Interagency Coordination Group on AMR, Unitaid will be bringing its expertise in innovation and access to support the global response to AMR.

Tackling resistance is a high priority in our 2017-2021 strategy, and vital to reaching global health targets. Unitaid currently has a portfolio of US$ 500 million in resistance related projects, of which US$ 300 million have been committed after September 2016.

We work closely with partners to develop innovative diagnostics for TB drug resistance and to detect HIV among children and measuring viral load; to widen access to new and simple medicines for drug-resistant TB and first line ARVs; and to bring the best TB and HIV drugs, including child-friendly formulations. For all these innovations, Unitaid aims to secure lower prices to ensure wide and equitable access to those most in need.

If additional funding is available, Unitaid is committed to dramatically increase its investments in AMR.

Read more: “Unitaid’s work in antimicrobial resistance (AMR)“

Leveraging innovation to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in Mozambique — a photo story. (en anglais seulement)

Children with tuberculosis at Maputo Central Hospital will soon be able to receive the child-friendly TB treatment developed by the TB Alliance and its partners with funding from Unitaid. The new formulation is soluble, fruit-flavoured, and affordable. Before Unitaid’s investment, children around the world did not have access to appropriate TB medicine. As a result, caregivers often had to cut or crush tablets intended for adults. Imprecise dosing frequently led to continued illness.

A high-level Unitaid delegation visited Mozambique in September 2017 to see first-hand how the innovations it is funding in HIV testing, TB treatment and malaria prevention are making a difference in the lives of adults and children on the ground.

Read the full photo story

Landscape for HIV rapid diagnostic tests for HIV self-testing – 3rd edition – July 2016

Landscape for HIV rapid diagnostic tests for HIV self-testing – 3rd edition – July 2016