In 2013 alone, 360,000 HIV positive people worldwide had passed away due to Tuberculosis (TB), a disease caused by HIV which is claimed to be preventable as well as curable. For this reason, The Global Fund has made it their mission after their funding conference on October 30, 2014. They have decided to push a new funding strategy to reduce those numbers since everyone at the Global Fund conference agreed that the rate of HIV positive deaths related to TB is way to high being there is a cure available as well as being preventable.

This new model of funding will be geared towards TB to educate the population and current HIV positive patients that there are steps and actions to TB prevention. Attending this conference in Barcelona, Spain was, Global Fund Executive Director Mark Dybul was joined by South Africa’s Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, Blessi Kumar of the Global Coalition of TB Activists, USAID TB Senior Policy and Strategy Advisor Amy Bloom and UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé. These administers focused on developed strategies for more engagement in the community and show the importance of prevention.

Also, a majority of the panel agreed with one another that in order to get people in and treated, they must be treated patients who are patient oriented, rather then disease oriented. The reason for this is because many patients are skeptical to go into these clinics and seek the treatment due to the treatment they are facing socially. These new treatment centers and plans are designed to have the environmental feel of a regular visit to a doctors office, not make the patient feel as if they are being quarantined.

The Global Fund is hoping these actions will start to eliminate the number of deaths a year due to these very treatable and curable diseases. Blessi Kumar, the TB activist stated at the conference, “It is smart to invest in community engagement for TB. This leads to better sustainable results. We also need a sense of urgency to eliminate TB.” Everyone understood the urgency to get rid of this disease and the best way to do that is to make sure everyone is aware and willing to seek treatment.