Paris (AFP)

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will try Thursday to collect $ 14 billion in Lyon to finance its actions, a "challenge" necessary to overcome these epidemics by 2030.

In the opinion of all, reaching this bar will be difficult, in the face of "donor fatigue": the cause of AIDS may seem less urgent than a few years ago and many funds are mobilized for the environmental cause, such as the Green Climate Fund, seen as more politically beneficial.

"In the current context, any significant increase beyond the $ 12.2 billion" raised three years ago at the last Global Fund refinancing conference "will be considered a success," he said. we at the Elysee, while France is this year the host country of the conference.

"We need $ 14 billion in Lyon," said Emmanuel Macron two weeks ago, at the UN General Assembly, stressing that "no one can understand that for financial reasons (.. .) it is now impossible to access treatments to prevent or cure such diseases ".

This amount was set in January by the Global Fund which sees a minimum to give itself a chance to achieve the goal of the UN: to end in 10 years the epidemics of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis , the top three infectious diseases that pose a threat to global health.

Yet it is considered insufficient by many NGOs that rely on the estimate of independent experts, calculating that it would take $ 16.8 billion to 18 billion to achieve it.

The 6th Global Fund "Replenishment" Conference, for the period 2020-2022, opens Wednesday afternoon at the Lyon Convention Center.

It will bring together 700 participants, including 10 heads of state and government, mainly from Africa, billionaire Bill Gates, the first private contributor to the organization through his foundation, and singer Bono, co-founder of the RED association.

- "Bad calculation" -

Fifteen donor countries have already announced their contribution, ensuring three-quarters of the final amount.

The United States will maintain its rank of first donor with a contribution up 9% to $ 4.68 billion voted by the Congress, which remains to be formalized.

The UK, the second largest contributor for the 2016-2019 period, announced an amount of 1.44 billion pounds (about $ 1.7 billion), up nearly 20%, while Germany, which ranks fourth, will bring 1 billion euros (about 1.1 billion dollars), an increase of 18%.

The achievement of the final target will therefore depend on the amounts committed by the private sector and by France, one of the founders of the Fund and second largest donor, but which has not increased its contribution since 2010, to 1.08 billion dollars. euros.

If the Elysee judges "quite desirable" that the share of private increases (7% of the total today), it ensures that "France will live up to its status as second historical contributor", leaving Emmanuel Macron the premiere of his announcement Thursday.

200 NGOs last week signed a forum in Le Monde calling on France to increase its contribution by "at least 25%".

"But to reach the target of 14 billion and that France finds its place as a European leader, it would require a 45% increase," said Enzo Poultreniez, manager at Aides, referring to the "miscalculation" of those who "balk at investing ".

While the annual HIV treatment now costs "less than $ 100 a year," the 40% of HIV-positive people who do not have access "are driving the epidemic," he argues.

"A looser of international funding would provoke a resurgence of epidemics and the response to regain control would be even more expensive," also said Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, co-discoverer of HIV and president of Sidaction.

Created in 2002, the Global Fund is an original partnership between states, civil society, the private sector and the sick. Half of its funding goes to the fight against AIDS and half to malaria and tuberculosis.

In its latest report, in September, the organization claimed 32 million lives saved since its creation, but warned of "new threats" jeopardizing the achievement of its objectives: "the stagnation of funding", but also the development of "drug resistance" against malaria and tuberculosis.

© 2019 AFP