Ireland is to contribute €25 million next year to the global fight against HIV/Aids, TB and malaria.
The announcement was made at the Global Fund Replenishment Conference in Berlin, an event being chaired by the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.
Minister for Overseas Development Michael Kitt said the 2008 level represents a 25 per cent increase on the 2006 contribution and demonstrates Ireland's commitment to the prevention and control of communicable diseases in its development programmes.
Mr Kitt was speaking as he ended a trip to Mozambique in southern Africa to visit aid projects.
The Global Fund was established in 2002 to tackle HIV/Aids, TB and malaria. Mr Kitt said the three diseases cause more than six million deaths per year.
"They have resulted in the reversal of decades of health and development progress in many countries and the continuing devastation of families and communities around the world," he said.
The Global Fund supports governments and NGOs in countries worst affected by these diseases. Since its establishment in 2002, the Global Fund is estimated to have saved 1.8 million lives.
Ireland has contributed €80 million to the fund since it was established in 2002. The fund is the single biggest recipient of Irish aid funding for HIV and other communicable diseases.
PA