The Minister of Health, Dr. Venko Filipche, opened the meeting of Health Ministers of Southeast Europe, which is being held today at the Aleksandar Palace Hotel in Skopje. A welcome address was also delivered by Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Malaria, and Tuberculosis.
The meeting is attended by ministers of health and high-level government representatives from Southeast European countries, members of the Board and Secretariat of the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, representatives of bilateral and multilateral partners, civil society representatives, as well as key populations affected by the diseases.
The objective of the ministerial meeting is to discuss progress, challenges, and opportunities for achieving sustainable responses to HIV and TB in Southeast Europe. Participants will have the opportunity to exchange views on best practices in governance, financing, and programming—especially in cooperation with NGOs—to identify gaps and opportunities to address them, share lessons learned, and define outstanding needs for collaboration with stakeholders from other governments, civil society, donors, and multilateral partners.
Also, this evening at the Macedonian Philharmonic, starting at 8:00 PM, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia, Zoran Zaev, will open the official ceremony of the 39th Board Meeting of the Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
The Global Fund to Fight HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria is an international financing organization established to provide additional resources to prevent and treat HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. The Global Fund was founded in 2002 as a partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector, and people affected by the diseases.
The Global Fund has been present in the Republic of Macedonia since 2004. Over a period of 13 years (from November 2004 to December 2017), it has invested 33 million US dollars in Macedonia through HIV and tuberculosis programs.
