Cologne/Berlin. Dr. Peter Schmitz, Chief Medical Officer of Malteser International, will represent the demand of the organisation in the struggle against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria at the Civil Society Forum in Berlin, the 25 September 2007: "We demand that the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria will be replenished with further 18 billion dollars." The Second Global Fund Replenishment Conference will take place from 26 to 28 September. "At the Civil Society Forum, we want to stress the im-portance of an increasing support for the fund. If the donor countries do not provide fur-ther 18 billion dollars till 2010, effective measures against diseases will not be imple-mented in a sufficient way anymore," Dr. Schmitz points out. "Furthermore, we have to ensure that the basic health care is not neglected in the shade of HIV/AIDS and that children won't die yet again of diseases against which they could get vaccinated - if the health services have sufficient qualified personnel."

Since the Global Fund was set up in 2002, more than seven billion dollars have been provided. With this money, more that a million AIDS-patients have received life-prolonging medical drugs, 2.8 million people have been cured of tuberculosis and more than 30 million people now sleep under mosquito nets protecting them against malaria. But still there are about 40 million people infected with the HI-virus worldwide, drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis emerge as a global problem and malaria is one of the most common causes of death, especially among children under five years. "In order to fight these diseases, more qualified personnel have to be trained, employed and paid appropriately," Dr. Schmitz demands. "Till now, only 25% of the AIDS-patients receive a qualified treatment. We have to ensure that all people have access to vital medical drugs and to basic health care."