“Africa has shown us how we can build partnerships that can help us invest for maximum impact, especially in our fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria,” Mark Dybul, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, writes in the Huffington Post’s “Big Push” blog. “The shared responsibility in African societies where we work with many partners has inspired us in our battles against the three dreadful diseases affecting such a tenacious continent,” he states, adding, “This spirit of shared responsibility now encompasses many facets of our work: from raising funds for our interventions, to investing in programs that have seen our partners save many lives.”

“This year, 13 African heads of state serve as champions for efforts to secure resources for the next three years, ahead of a replenishment conference to be hosted by the United States in early December,” Dybul continues, noting, “African countries have [also] resolved to increase domestic spending on health in line with the Abuja Declaration of 2001, which saw African countries pledge to boost government funding for health to at least 15 percent.” He writes, “By pulling together to deliver on this goal, Africa will bring us ever closer to the transformative moment, when we can proudly declare that we have turned HIV, tuberculosis and malaria into endemics at a low level, rather than pandemics, and no longer big concerns for public health,” and concludes, “Together, we will defeat these diseases” (11/11).