NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

UNITAID has established itself as a pioneering innovative financing mechanism with a successful business model to improve product markets for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in developing countries, according to UNITAID’s first independent Five-Year Evaluation.

The full independent evaluation report was endorsed at the 17th UNITAID Executive Board Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

“This positive evaluation comes just a few months after French President François Hollande acknowledged the success of UNITAID during the United Nations General Assembly,” said Dr Philippe Douste-Blazy, Chairman, UNITAID Executive Board. “I would like to thank France and other countries for their strong commitment to this innovative endeavour to save lives. As the evaluation states: ’This success would not have been possible without strong leadership from France and other early partners including Brazil, Chile, Norway, and the UK.’”

According to the evaluation: “UNITAID has been doing the right things to contribute to significant positive outcomes in the fight against the three diseases. The evaluation finds that over the course of the evaluation period, UNITAID has validated its business model of identifying, selecting and funding market-shaping interventions carried out by implementing partners.”