GBC and TPAA Convene Top Business Leaders to Fight AIDS and TB in Russia

On October 21-25 the global business community turns its attention to Russia as top level participants from leading corporations - including over 15 GBC member companies - gather in St. Petersburg and Moscow to address the country's accelerating HIV/AIDS and TB epidemics. Culminating in the 2007 Leaders Forum, the events include:

  • Visits to AIDS and TB hospital patients
  • Participation in AIDS and TB prevention programs
  • Scenario-building exercises to anticipate future needs
  • Meetings with high-level policymakers
  • Development of partnership opportunities and models for implementing effective public-private partnerships
After extensive discussions with its members and stakeholders, GBC has expanded its mandate to include malaria and tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world's leading infectious diseases with grave impact on global health and economic welfare consequences. According to the World Economic Forum, TB is responsible for a $13 billion decline in worker productivity each year.

The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC) mobilizes international business against HIV/AIDS and recently added tuberculosis and malaria to its mandate. The rapidly expanding alliance of 220 international companies is dedicated to combating these epidemics through the business sector's unique skills and expertise. The official focal point of the private sector delegation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, GBC maintains offices in Beijing, Geneva, Johannesburg, Kyiv, Moscow, Nairobi and Paris. In August 2006, the organization began a merger process with Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS (TPAA) to strengthen business engagement in Eastern Europe and the former CIS. For more information, visit GBC online at www.businessfightsaids.org and www.businessfightsmalaria.org.
  • TB kills someone every fifteen seconds and kills two million people each year.
  • The disease is the leading infectious killer of people with HIV/AIDS.
  • TB drains $16 billion from the annual incomes of the world's poorest communities. In some countries, loss of productivity attributable to TB approaches 7% of GDP
  • In sub-Saharan Africa, a third of people with HIV also suffer from TB.
  • TB kills more women than all other maternal mortality causes combined.
 GBC maintains a broad network of partnerships with public health organizations, business associations and international agencies. By partnering with leading international non-governmental organizations, GBC helps member companies provide on-the-ground program implementation and technical expertise in malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment.