Global Fund Ambassador, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Credit: Global Fund

The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has launched a new campaign BORN HIV FREE to mobilize public support for its work and contribute to the global effort for a world where no child is born with HIV by 2015. At the core of the campaign, originated and supported by Global Fund Ambassador, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is a series of creative films intended to inspire people to sign up online in support of The Global Fund’s mission.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy’s support for the BORN HIV FREE campaign follows a call in 2009 from UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé to virtually eliminate mother-to-child transmission by 2015.

HIV-positive mothers can pass on HIV to their babies during pregnancy, child labour, delivery or by breast-feeding. The risk of transmission can be significantly reduced if they get access to HIV prevention and treatment services.

“It is heartbreaking that over 400,000 babies are born with HIV every year even though we have the medical means and the expertise to prevent this,” said Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, The Global Fund’s Ambassador for Protecting Women and Children against AIDS. “I hope the BORN HIV FREE campaign will inspire millions of people to support The Global Fund so we can finally put an end to this terrible injustice.”

HIV-positive mothers can pass on HIV to their babies during pregnancy, child labour, delivery or by breast-feeding. The risk of transmission can be significantly reduced if they get access to HIV prevention and treatment services.

“We can win this battle against AIDS if we get the funding we require,” said Professor Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of The Global Fund. “This campaign is intended to encourage people to sign up in support of The Global Fund and to show their leaders that there is strong public support to continue and increase funding for its mission.”

The campaign will operate in several languages with short animation films aiming to expand public awareness that an HIV-free generation is possible within five years if governments continue funding the AIDS response. More information can also be found on the campaign’s web site (www.bornhivfree.org).

Since its establishment in 2002, The Global Fund has approved proposals totaling US$ 19.4 billion making it the main contributor to the health–related Millennium Development Goals. If current progress rates are maintained, it is possible to ensure that virtually no children anywhere in the world are born with HIV by 2015.

A majority of The Global Fund’s resources come from donor governments. This year countries will pledge funding for the next three years (2011-2013) to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. On 5 October 2010, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will chair a meeting of donor countries in New York. The BORN HIV FREE campaign will run until the key meeting in New York in order to mobilize public support for its work.