With the Group of Twenty (G20) having more power to positively affect the world’s development than any other international body, AHF joined civil society organizations from around the world at the Civil 20 (C20) working group on health in Tokyo last month to ensure global health and HIV/AIDS remain on the G20 agenda.
“The G20 is unparalleled in terms of economic power—it represents almost ninety percent of global GDP [gross domestic product], eighty percent of global trade and roughly two-thirds of the world’s population,” said AHF Director of Global Policy and Communications Denys Nazarov. “Last year the G20 committed to ensuring a successful Sixth Replenishment for the Global Fund, which is coming up in October. Now, AHF and other organizations at the C20 are asking the G20 to back up their words with pledges – AIDS, TB and malaria are still very much a global crisis and we need everyone’s contribution to solve it.”
In addition to increased Global Fund support, AHF also stressed the importance of access to affordable generic medicines and the need to strengthen global health security surrounding outbreak preparedness and resourcing, anti-microbial resistance, and the need for stronger policy on responding to public health emergencies of international concern.