The Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria has concluded a meeting in Geneva with the election of US Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to succeed Uganda's Chrispus Kiyonga as Chair. Dr Kiyonga had resigned unexpectedly days before the meeting, citing other commitments in Uganda, where he serves as Minister without Portfolio. Under the Fund's internal rules for the rotation of offices, the next Chair had to come from one of the major contributor countries represented on the Board. Since the Fund, unlike WHO and UNAIDS, is not a United Nations agency, the convention which bars the USA, UK, France, Russia and China from heading UN agencies does not apply to it.
HIV/AIDS funding agreements have been announced for Argentina, Cambodia, Senegal, Ukraine, and for an international NGO, the Lutheran World Federation. The US$500,000 grant to the Lutherans, the first directly to any NGO, is to assist in mobilising member churches to become involved in prevention and care in countries where this is supported by national 'Country Coordinating Mechanisms' or, in the absence of a CCM, the Ministry of Health.
With a second round of decisions on grants made during this week's meeting, all of the money committed for the first two years to the Global Fund has now been allocated - approximately US$1.5 billion. Overall, 57% of the money is to address HIV/AIDS, including ARV treatment for up to 300,000 people, 28% is directed at malaria control and 15% at tuberculosis, providing treatment for two million people. Across all three diseases, programmes in 60 countries should be supported, subject to reaching satisfactory agreements on how the money will be paid out.
In his opening address to the Board, the Fund's Executive Director, Richard Feachem, said: 'We have widely advertised our financing requirements: The Global Fund needs 6.3 billion dollars in 2003 and 2004; so far we have 1.2 billion pledged. 80% of our fundraising is ahead of us. The Global Fund needs to be refinanced. ... Inevitably, this refinancing must rely primarily, in the short term, on the G7 and other OECD nations. ,,, In this context, we are pleased to hear President Bush's commitment last night to the fight against HIV/AIDS and to the undertaking to provide additional funds to the tune of $1 billion to the Global Fund beginning in 2004.'
Some campaigners have been critical of the US decision (reported here) to channel most of its new funds for global AIDS prevention, treatment and impact relief bilaterally rather than through the Global Fund. If bilateral aid is 'tied' to US providers of goods and services (such as consultancy), its value to recipients would be much less than if it were 'untied' like money from the Global Fund and many other donors. Alternatively, the US commitment could be taken as a challenge to others to provide resources to the Global Fund and for the Global Fund to focus major programmes on those countries left out of the US Presidential initiative.
Further information on the Global Fund is available from the Fund's own website here and a range of other materials are available from the US-based aidsspan organisation here.