This is Robert Cohen with the VOA Special English DevelopmentReport.

There was a lot of talk at the International AIDS Conference inBangkok about the Global Fund that finds money to fight AIDS. Butthat is not all it does. The full name is the Global Fund to FightAIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This organization was created intwo-thousand-one to find more money to attack all three of thesedeadly diseases.

The Global Fund has offices in Geneva. But it does not have itsown programs. It gives money to finance local efforts. Membercountries of the Global Fund have agreed to spend more than fivethousand million dollars through two-thousand-eight.

Because of this support, there isnow two times as much money to fight malaria as there was two yearsago. Malaria kills more than one million people each year. Almosthalf of all people in the world live in countries where malaria isfound. But ninety percent of the deaths are in Africa, mostly inchildren under five years old.

Pregnant women are also at high risk. So are refugees. They oftenhave little or no protection against the mosquitoes that spreadmalaria. Aid officials worry about the situation for the refugeesfrom the Darfur area in western Sudan. Seasonal rains have begun.That will mean more mosquitoes. These insects lay their eggs inwater.

Many countries, though, have success stories to tell about theirefforts to fight malaria. These include Malawi, Sri Lanka, Tanzania,Vietnam and Zambia.

Progress often comes with the use of new medicines calledartemisinin-based combination therapy, or ACT. Older medicines likechloroquine no longer cure many people with malaria. These medicineshave been used for such a long time that the malaria parasiteresists them.

ACT mixes several medicines. Health officials say it is now thebest way to fight malaria. But ACT costs about two dollars pertreatment. That is a lot of money compared to the older medicines,which cost about ten cents.

Last week, the United States Institute of Medicine called for aprogram to help pay for these new medicines. The proposed fund wouldseek as much as five hundred million dollars per year. This wouldcome from rich countries and international aid organizations.

Next week, learn what some countries are doing to fight malaria.This VOA Special English Development Report was written by KarenLeggett. This is Robert Cohen.