OTTAWA — AIDS activists are pushing the Trudeau government to renew its support for fighting infectious diseases overseas after an embarrassing conference in Montreal that left the industry worried Canada will fail. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will attend a pledge conference for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in New York. Canada is one of the fund’s biggest supporters and has pledged $4 billion since 2002. Countries replenish the fund every three years, with their contributions typically increasing over time as health care systems develop more capacity to treat and prevent these diseases. In each round, civil society groups issue what they call a fair share metric to reflect how much each rich country can reasonably commit to help the fund meet its goals. This spring, Canadian advocates called on Trudeau to pledge $1.2 billion. Since then, the US, Germany and Japan have announced funding that meets requests from local groups. Elise Legault, Canada director at ONE Campaign, an international non-governmental organization fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, said anything less than $1.2 billion would lead to avoidable deaths. “Prime Minister Trudeau cannot diminish the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, because this is a fight we can win,” he said. The fund supports developing countries in curbing and treating the three preventable diseases, which in many regions are among the leading causes of death. Trudeau has defended the fund in the past, including in 2016 when he spoke alongside Zimbabwean activist Lois Maturu. Maturu lost her mother and brother in 2003 to both AIDS and tuberculosis. She was affected by both diseases and says Canada’s contributions funded programs that brought her back from the brink of death. The 30-year-old is now planning to have children. “I would really like to thank the Canadian government which is a traditional donor to the Global Fund because it has really saved millions of lives and I am one of the lives that have been saved,” Maturu said from New York, where she plans to press Trudeau for to enhance Canada’s contribution. The World Health Organization reported that tuberculosis deaths rose in 2020 for the first time in more than a decade as governments focused on containing the COVID-19 pandemic. Malaria deaths follow a similar pattern, while HIV patients have reported disruptions in treatments that prevent the virus from developing into AIDS. Maturu said those trends have survived as she worries about Canada’s reluctance to announce its funding until the last minute. “It’s really hard, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed,” he said. Groups such as the ONE Campaign called on the Liberals to unveil Canada’s commitment to the 2022 international AIDS conference in Montreal in July. The government made no announcement and International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan canceled his appearance at the conference, with his office citing “operational issues”. Ottawa came under fire at the time for not granting travel visas for HIV experts and advocates from African countries, leading some speakers to accuse Canada of racism. The International AIDS Society said it will review whether to hold future conferences in Canada. Sajjan’s office said last Friday that another Global Fund commitment was coming, but would not provide details. “We will continue to support the Global Fund, which is Canada’s largest investment in global health,” spokeswoman Haley Hodgson wrote. “Minister Sajjan recognizes how critical the Seventh Replenishment of the Global Fund is to achieving our collective global goals to fight HIV, tuberculosis and malaria.” In the last round of fund commitments in 2019, the Trudeau government increased its contribution after weeks of sustained pressure. At the time, Ottawa did not dispute rumors that it would stick with the same amount of funding it had announced in 2016. Legault said the fund has made “tremendous progress” toward the UN’s sustainable development goal of ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030. According to UNAIDS, the United Nations’ joint program on HIV/AIDS, AIDS-related deaths have fallen by 68 percent since the peak in 2004 and by 52 percent since 2010. “Twenty years ago, the headlines about AIDS were tragic. Many African countries were so affected that life expectancy was on a downward trend due to the disease, with no end in sight,” said Legault. “The fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria is one of the great unsung success stories of the century.” This report by The Canadian Press was first published on September 19, 2022. Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
