Genoa- The G8 governments and the UN Secretary-General announced the constitution of a global health fund designed to tackle infectious diseases in developing countries. More money and new money are needed in the fight against diseases of the poor, but the amount committed is nowhere near what is required. Pledges to the fund, currently at $1.2 billion, are shamefully low.

Governments call upon multinationals and the private sector to contribute. Among these are the pharmaceutical companies whose pricing policies are a fundamental part of the problem. The G8 governments have been preparing a global health fund for a year. In that time, 14 million people will have died from infectious and parasitic disease; 90% of these deaths will have occurred in developing countries.

"There are serious organisational concerns with the fund. There is still no clear statement regarding who makes the decisions, on what the funds are to be spent, and no policy to ensure that the fund will be used to purchase medicines at the lowest possible cost," says Ellen 't Hoen from the medical aid organisation M&eaacute;decins Sans Frontières.

"Without these basic commitments, it will be a long time before the fund contributes to saving lives. In its current state, it is little more than window dressing." The crisis of lack of access to essential medicines faced by developing countries is much greater than can be solved by a global fund. A fundamental change in the medicines market is needed, embracing multiple strategies that will lead to equitable drug prices.