Rekindle Global Fund spirit after COVID says Draghi

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 24 - The spirit of the UN's Global Fund should be rekindled after COVID, Premier Mario Draghi told the organization that fights disease worldwide Friday.
    "The pandemic has overwhelmed health systems, draining resources from the activities of fighting these diseases," he told the fund, which invests US$4 billion a year to defeat HIV, TB and malaria and ensure a healthier, safer, equitable future for all.
    "Last year, at least a million people did not receive treatment against tuberculosis.
    "The number of HIV tests dropped to a disconcerting 20%.
    "Progress against malaria stopped.
    "Now that the COVID-19 vaccination programmes are proceeding all over the world, we must rekindle the spirit that led to the creation of the Global Fund".
    Draghi added that "the next refinancing of the Fund must be generous and express real solidarity at a global level," recalling that Italy has given over 1.2 billion euros to it since it was created in 2002.
    "We want the next 20 years of the Global Fund to be even more fruitful than the last 20 years".
    Over the years, he said, the Fund had saved around 44 million lives, equivalent to the population of Ukraine. (ANSA).