Thank you very much for the question.
I'm going to ask my colleague Diane Jacovella to talk about some specifics around what Canada and CIDA have been doing with immunization and micronutrients. It is an area where Canada has been a leader, and we are also a leader in terms of malarial bed nets. We were one of the first out the door.
In terms of your general point, and referring back to the chair's statement from the G8 development ministers meeting last week, one of the things I'd like to point out is the shift that I think has to happen. In the past number of years we've had a focus on a number of diseases in particular—whether it's malaria, HIV, AIDS, or polio—on which we all know we can produce results through immunization. We know we can produce results through antibiotics and treatment of infectious diseases. We all know we can produce tremendous health results through adequate nutrition and micronutrient supplementation. But what often doesn't happen is their integration into one package. We know that if they are integrated into a package that a local, trained health care worker can deliver, we can have substantial improvements in terms of the outcomes for mothers and for children.
I think the key now is to look at it as an integrated approach. We did this with the catalytic initiative with children in terms of front line health workers having a basket of things that we know have high impact in terms of treating infectious diseases, in terms of treating diarrhea, in terms of immunizations, in terms of nutritional supplements, and we know that it can work. It's very cost-effective, high-impact, and not that complicated. But you do have to have the health system behind you to ensure that on the ground it is delivered in that way. That's what I think the development ministers focused on: how everybody supports that integrated, comprehensive approach.
Going back to the specific things that Canada has done, as I mentioned, CIDA has been a leader in terms of the micronutrient initiative. Canada has also been one of the leaders in terms of the global fund for AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, which has saved millions of lives.
I'm just going to ask Diane perhaps to give a few more facts on some of the key things that you asked about.