With 30 MEPs from eight countries the group surpasses the new parliamentary minimum of 25 MEPs from seven countries needed to qualify as a formal group.

BBC: UKIP forms new Eurosceptic group

In 2002 the Group of Eight countries and others created the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, much along the lines Sachs had advocated.

FORBES: Magazine Article

That share is surpassed only by Finland in a group of eight advanced countries.

ECONOMIST: The fund may be new but the idea is surprisingly old