“One of the greatest successes in development aid in the past decade has been the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria,” Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and special adviser to the U.N. Secretary-General on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), writes in a Project Syndicate opinion piece, noting the fund is appealing for $5 billion annually for another three years. He recalls the state of the three epidemics in 2000, progress made against them, and the formation of the Global Fund. “Aid for health has worked. The world has benefited enormously from the triumph of generosity, professionalism, common decency, and good sense,” Sachs writes, adding, “Yet the battle to mobilize adequate financing remains.”

“It seems likely that the U.S. government will agree to contribute one-third of the $5 billion if the rest of the world delivers the remainder,” Sachs states, adding, “The United Kingdom recently made a strong pledge, and the world now awaits the announcements of Germany, Canada, Australia, Japan, and other long-standing and new donor countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.” He concludes, “Millions of people around the world will live, or die, depending on what these governments decide in December. May they, and we, choose life” (10/29).