President Barack Obama announced a new initiative at the National Institutes of Health in pursuit of a cure for HIV, saying his administration is redirecting $100 million into the project to find a new generation of therapies. “The United States should be at the forefront of new discoveries into how to put HIV into long-term remission without requiring lifelong therapies, or better yet, eliminate it completely,” Obama said.

Obama made the announcement Monday at a White House event marking World AIDS Day, which was Sunday – and as health leaders and philanthropists gathered in Washington to determine how to replenish the major global health fund that combats AIDS and two of the world’s other leading killers in low-income countries.

Obama pledged that the U.S. would contribute up to $5 billion over the next three years to The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria – as long as other countries do their part and contribute $10 billion. The U.S. matches contributions to the Geneva-based Global Fund on a 1-to-2 funding ratio set by Congress.