When the Global Fund was created a decade ago, HIV incidence was rising around the world, and the drugs used to treat the virus were still prohibitively expensive. Malaria was killing one million people each year, with mortality concentrated among pregnant women and children under the age of five.
这就是我决定投资6500万美元给全球抗击艾滋病、结核病和疟疾基金（Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria，以下简称全球基金）的原因。全球基金成立于十年前，当时艾滋病正在全球蔓延，治疗艾滋病毒的药物极其昂贵。疟疾每年要夺走数百万人的生命，其中绝大多数是孕妇和五岁以下儿童。因肺结核而死的人数超过两百万，因为他们得不到廉价的优质治疗。