Statement on Bono’s meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

NEW YORK CITY —As part of ONE’s work in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, Bono, U2 lead singer and cofounder of ONE, met today with Japanese Prime Minster Abe to discuss the dramatic progress that has been made in the fight against killer diseases thanks to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

Bono thanked the Prime Minister for Japan’s leadership in this fight and for the country’s strong support for the Fund. The next few months are a critical period for the Fund, as world leaders must decide by December what their funding levels will be for the Global Fund over the next three years. Since its inception in 2002, the Global Fund has supported programs that have put 5.3 million people on life-saving AIDS medication, provided 340 million bed nets to fight malaria and treated 11 million new TB cases.

Bono said:

“Japan’s leadership in global health has helped bring us to a tipping point – we have the know-how, technology, and experience to defeat AIDS, TB and malaria – but we need the funding to get there. I’m confident in Prime Minister Abe’s commitment to global health, and that his leadership at this year’s Global Fund replenishment could help get us over the finish line on these diseases.”