Advocacy groups working to eradicate extreme poverty say they hope Canada will leverage the upcoming International AIDS Conference in Montreal to commit new funding to a global organization fighting AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

But the groups say they are concerned about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Elise Légoût, Canada director for the ONE campaign, an international NGO fighting extreme poverty and preventable diseases, said her group is urging Trudeau to allocate $1.2 billion to the fund during the 2022 AIDS conference, which begins on July 29.

She said in a recent interview: "With this investment, Canada, along with many other countries, will help save the lives of 20 million more people over the next few years, but we are concerned that the Prime Minister might miss this opportunity."

Légoût said the Global Fund, which provides funding to health departments and NGOs combating the three diseases, has helped save an estimated 44 million people over the past twenty years.

Canada is one of the largest supporters of the fund and has pledged more than $4 billion since 2002. Chris Dendys, executive director of Results Canada, an Ottawa-based advocacy organization working to eradicate extreme poverty, said her group "is also pushing for this $1.2 billion contribution, which the Global Fund says is required – the minimum needed."

In an interview on Thursday, the Global Fund requested donor countries to provide $18 billion over the next three years – nearly a 30 percent increase from the $14 billion requested three years ago.

The organization said it needs more money to make up for what it lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Légoût said the pandemic disrupted healthcare services, including those aimed at combating AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

"When the COVID pandemic hit, we saw a rise in deaths caused by tuberculosis and malaria for the first time in many years, and if we don’t stop this tide, the risk will threaten everyone."

Légoût added that Canada’s $1.2 billion contribution to the Global Fund is a "fair share" for Canada of the $18 billion the organization needs.

This would be a 30 percent increase over the $930.4 million Canada pledged to the fund during its last replenishment in 2019.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister also directed questions to the office of International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan, who said on Thursday he would not be able to respond to questions regarding commitments to the Global Fund until the following week.