April, 2004

Seattle Philanthropist Announces $1.5 Million Challenge Grant to Fight AIDS in the Developing World

SEATTLE—At a private luncheon featuring a speech and discussion with His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, RealNetworks’ CEO, Rob Glaser, issued a call to action to civic and business leaders to fight HIV/AIDS in developing countries. Glaser announced $1.5 million in challenge grants from his private foundation to fight AIDS in Africa by helping countries access and grow funding sources to fight the pandemic.

“The genocide of our generation occurred in Rwanda in 1994, and we in the developed world stood by and did nothing,” Glaser said. “Now, 10 years later, thousands of Rwandans are dying horrible deaths from AIDS, including women who contracted the disease when they were raped by the same people who murdered their families. We must act to help Rwandans and all people who suffer from this disease around the world.”

While as many as a half million of Rwanda's 8.2 million citizens are infected with HIV/AIDS, only a few thousand are receiving antiretroviral therapy. As a result of the AIDS crisis and the 1994 genocide, Rwanda has one of the highest numbers of orphans in Africa.

“HIV/AIDS is the single greatest threat to welfare and growth in the developing world,” said Kagame. “It is inconceivable to me that, in this day and age, the means to fight the pandemic are only readily available to individuals in the developed world.”

Earlier this year, Glaser visited Rwanda to see first hand a health project funded by the Glaser Progress Foundation. In 2001, Glaser and Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs co-founded the Access Project, which is housed at Columbia University. The Access Project helps developing nations apply for and use monies available from The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Glaser Progress Foundation has spent more than $1.6 million on this project prior to today’s announcement. That investment has helped Rwanda and other African governments obtain more than $270 million in grants from the Global Fund.

“Our focus is on improving the flow of resources from the developed world to the developing world,” explained Glaser. “We saw a potential kink in the flow of money and information. By forming a bridge between the Global Fund and countries in need, the Access Project helps remove barriers to both the funding and success. Ensuring the effectiveness of the Global Fund represents our best hope for millions of people."

To date, the Access Project has helped Rwanda mobilize $74.3 million in funding from the Global Fund. Of this:

$56.6 million is allocated to a five-year HIV/AIDS program that will put approximately 20,000 patients on antiretroviral treatment and more than 50,000 HIV-positive individuals on prophylaxis to prevent life-threatening opportunistic infections.

The Access Project is also working to help ensure the successful implementation of Rwanda’s first Global Fund-financed program, known as “Integrated VCT (voluntary counseling and testing).” This program has already made five HIV/AIDS-related services available at 38 health centers in Rwanda, and will scale up to 117 health centers over the next two years. The package of services includes voluntary counseling and testing for HIV, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and treatment for opportunistic infections, sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis. The Integrated VCT program has trained more than 200 doctors and nurses.

The Glaser challenge grant announced today will allow the Access Project to expand its work in Rwanda and other developing countries. For example, The Glaser Progress Foundation will match $150,000 from the government of Rwanda to fund two new Access Project positions for HIV/AIDS and malaria in that country. “This public-private partnership between our government and your philanthropic organizations will significantly impact the devastating health challenges we face,” Dr. Innocent Nyaruhirira, Rwandan Minister of State for HIV/AIDS and Other Epidemics, told civic and business leaders at the Seattle luncheon.

“While the world, rightfully, has spent the past several weeks re-examining the horrors experienced by hundreds of thousands of Rwandans a decade ago, we are joining President Kagame in focusing on the future,” said Glaser. “And that means giving Rwanda and other developing countries the tools to develop the right infrastructure to care for their people.”

In 2003, 3.1 million people died of AIDS worldwide, over three-quarters in sub-Saharan Africa. Another five million were newly infected. Young people ages 15-24 account for 42% of new HIV infections and represent almost one-third of people living with HIV/AIDS. With resources from the Global Fund, more than 500,000 people are projected to receive antiretroviral treatment over five years. This represents a near tripling of coverage in poor countries.