July 1, 2010 MASSIVEGOOD is live in the US and Spain and some of you clicked (or will click) on MASSIVEGOOD before taking off this summer. Although 2010 saw the birth of our movement, 2009 was an incredible year for the organization MASSIVEGOOD was created to support - UNITAID.

In its short four-year existence, UNITAID is flying high and has become a respected actor in the global health arena. Since 2006, it has delivered drugs, diagnostics and other vital products to 94 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

On this website, we’ve talked about how you can give through MASSIVEGOOD and all the wonderful people that support us. But now, let’s delve a little deeper into UNITAID’s successes to show how providing this fine organization with more funds could make a real difference:

UNITAID’s Fight Against HIV/AIDS:

Making a difference: UNITAID finances lifesaving HIV/AIDS treatment for 285,000 children in 44 countries. That’s three out of four children on treatment globally.  By the end of 2009, UNITAID had provided more than 180,000 people with “second-line” HIV/AIDS medicines in 29 countries. Many HIV/AIDS patients eventually develop resistance to medications and need stronger “second-line” drugs to continue care. Read more about HIV drug resistance

UNITAID’s Fight Against Malaria:

Making a difference: By 2009, UNITAID delivered over 19 million malaria treatments to 21 countries, making the most effective drugs for malaria affordable and widely available. To keep malaria-carrying mosquitoes away at night, UNITAID disbursed $109 million to UNICEF to buy and distribute 20 million insecticide treated bed nets, in eight of the most afflicted countries from 2009 to 2010. Read more about malaria treatments

UNITAID’s Fight Against Tuberculosis

Making a difference By the end of last year, UNITAID has financed purchases of nearly 785,100 first-line TB treatments in 19 countries and more than 6,200 treatment courses for patients with multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis in 30 countries. The best line of defense against drug resistance is to ensure a constant supply of medicine, so patients can continue their treatment to the very end. The body can build a resistance to drugs if treatment is abruptly stopped – UNITAID’s constant funding ensures that the shelves don’t run out.

UNITAID also funds purchases by the Global Drug Facility of more than 668,100 curative and preventive TB treatments for children in 57 countries. Read more about TB treatments.

UNITAID’s impact on Maternal and Child Health:

UNITAID brought down overall prices of pediatric antiretroviral drugs by two-thirds

47% of UNITAID’s projects have a direct impact on Maternal and Child Health, a previously neglected area that is increasingly a focus of international efforts in global health. UNITAID has committed $72 million to prevention of “mother-to child transmission,” (known as PMTCT) making UNITAID the world’s largest funder of PMTCT programs. What does this mean? Reducing the number of babies born with HIV and ensuring that those babies that are receive treatment at an early stage.

The successes don’t stop there. UNITAID has provided tests for about 1.4 million pregnant women for HIV/AIDS and stimulated the development of five new child-friendly HIV/AIDS medicines since 2006. UNITAID also reduced prices of four key pediatric TB medicines by 10–30%.

Want to know more about UNITAID achievements in detail? Please take a look at the 2009 UNITAID annual report:

http://www.unitaid.eu/images/NewWeb/documents/AR09/unitaid2009ar_web%20spreads.pdf