KUWAIT: The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) on Wednesday inked a grant accord with the Global Fund to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis at a value of $8 million to contribute to the fund’s financial resources for the period 2023-2025.

In a press statement, the Fund stated that the grant will help build and develop resilient and sustainable health systems in the beneficiary countries. It noted that the Global Fund, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the United Nations Development Programme, aims to mobilize around $18 billion to support global efforts to stop the spread of HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria.

The Global Fund also seeks to assist countries in achieving a set of sustainable development goals, including saving the lives of over 20 million people during the targeted period and reducing mortality rates from the three diseases by 60 percent, in addition to avoiding approximately 450 million new cases of these diseases. This contribution marks the seventh collaboration between Kuwait and the Global Fund in combating diseases and epidemics internationally, and the third of its kind for treating these diseases.

The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development previously contributed on behalf of the Government of Kuwait with a $5 million grant during the fifth replenishment of the Global Fund for the period (2017 - 2019), and a $6 million grant during the sixth replenishment for the period (2020 - 2022). In total, the contributions of the Kuwait Fund on behalf of the Government of Kuwait to the Global Fund’s resources have reached $11 million. The agreement was signed by the Acting Director General of the Fund, Walid Al-Bahr, and the Director of External Relations and Communications at the Global Fund Françoise Vanni. The Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development is considered a developmental tool that relies entirely on its own resources to provide loans and developmental assistance aimed at helping developing countries finance their development projects. — KUNA