Press Release

OFID grants US$650,000 to promote development

08/2008 March 11, 2008 Vienna, Austria
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The Governing Board of the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has approved US$650,000 as grant financing. The fresh grants target the health sector, an area which OFID “accords high priority” in its development activities. Commenting on the grants, OFID Director-General, Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, said, disease and inequities in medical care posed a “major stumbling block” towards poverty eradication. He added that these factors caused “needless suffering” for millions of men, women and children.

A grant of US$350,000 will support the attendance of participants from least-developed countries at the 17th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2008), which will take place August 3-8, 2008 in Mexico City, Mexico. The Conference, which will be held under the theme Universal Action Now, will emphasize the need for continued urgency in the worldwide response to HIV/AIDS. The event will also focus on the mobilization of action from stakeholders at the global, national, regional and local levels. Proceeds will be drawn from OFID’s Special Grant Account for HIV/AIDS Operations.

A US$300,000 grant will help fund Phase III of an initiative of the World Health Organization. The initiative was carried out in collaboration with Health Action International, to assess medicine prices in Latin America and the Caribbean. The overall aim of the project is to increase access to essential medicines in developing and transitional countries. This would be done by boosting the availability of reliable medicine price information and facilitating the development of transparent pricing-policies. A methodology will be developed to measure, analyze and monitor medicine prices and their components. It would also maintain a global database. Other envisaged activities include holding global medicine prices conferences and publishing a World Medicine Prices Report.

Since its inception, OFID has provided more than US$414 million in grant support, including funding for technical assistance, research, emergency assistance and food aid.