8 million GBP will support the fight against tuberculosis
Rockville, Maryland, USA, March 23, 2010 – Global efforts to combat tuberculosis gained momentum today when the government of the United Kingdom announced generous funding to the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. The first-ever grant of £ 8,000,000 (approximately US$ 13 million) is a significant show of support for Aeras in its mission to develop new TB vaccines.
“If the international community is serious about tackling HIV and TB we must find a way to break this devastating cycle,” said Mike Foster, the UK Minister for International Development.” That is why the UK is supporting the discovery of a new TB vaccine that is safe for babies born with HIV, and why we are scaling up efforts to reduce the impact of drug resistant strains of TB.”
“Investment by the UK government in our TB vaccine development program is a tremendous boost for Aeras and our partners, especially during such a difficult economic environment,” said R. Gordon Douglas, Jr., MD, Executive Chairman of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation. “We are grateful to DFID for this generous support.”