Global health fund halts new programs

French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, second left, Bill Gates spouse Melinda, third right sitting, and executive director of the U.N.-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS Michel Kazatchkine, the hospital "Auberge de l'Amour Redempteur" , Wednesday Jan. 27, 2010, in Dangbo, Benin. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is an ambassador of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. / AP Photo

GENEVA - The world's biggest financier in the fight against three killer diseases says it has run out of money to pay for new grant programs for the next two years — a situation likely to hit poor AIDS patients around the world.

An official with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said Thursday that they have been forced to cease giving new grants until 2014 because of global economic woes brought on by debt crises in the United States and Europe.

An independent panel recommended in September that the fund must adopt tougher financial safeguards after it weathered a storm of criticism and doubts among some of its biggest donors.

The fund created the panel — chaired by former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt and ex Botswana President Festus Mogae — in March to address concern among donors after Associated Press articles in January about the loss of tens of millions of dollars in grant money because of mismanagement and alleged fraud.

Germany, the European Commission and Denmark withheld hundreds of millions of euros in funding pending reviews of the fund's internal controls. Germany — the fund's fourth-largest donor- has since restored its funding.

The Geneva-based fund was set up in 2002 as a new way to coordinate world efforts against the diseases and to speed up emergency funds from wealthy nations and donors to the places hardest hit.

Since its creation, the fund, which is strictly a financing tool, has disbursed some $15 billion for programs — $2.8 billion this year alone, including to pay for treatment for around half the developing world's AIDS sufferers. With donations harder to come by, the fund says it can only afford to keep existing AIDS programs going, but not expand its services or add new patients.

"We're not cutting back — we're not expanding," the fund's board chairman, Simon Bland, told The Associated Press from Accra, Ghana, where the board has been meeting this week.

The fund had to make some "tough decisions to protect some of the gains that have already been delivered," he added.

Among those decisions were that hundreds of millions of dollars in grants planned for China, Brazil, Mexico and Russia will now be used for other purposes, fund officials said.

"It is deeply worrisome that inadvertently the millions of people fighting with deadly diseases are in danger of paying the price for the global financial crisis," the fund's executive director, Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, said in a statement.

The board has also decided to create a new general manager position after the panel found unhealthy friction between Kazatchkine and the fund's internal watchdog, Inspector General John Parsons's office, whose teams of auditors and investigators have been documenting losses.

The fund released 12 reports on its website earlier this month that turned up an additional $20 million of mismanagement, alleged fraud and misspending. Earlier probes had detected about $53 million in losses, according to fund documents.

Some of the reports have led to criminal cases, and some countries — mirroring the fund's own efforts — say they have begun putting new financial safeguards in place.

[booday]

look at the faces of the white elite. how did we allow bill gates to con the world people our to their money, then turn around and "give" it to who he thinks is worthy? so, you steal the peoples money, get them to turn on each other competitively, then "give" some of the stolen money back to make it appear you are a caring person. when corporations were given their person-hood (meaning they have full rights as a human being), they were told they must "give" some so the american people don't catch on; the people must be appeased or they will turn on corporations. look at history on the topic; it is true. the corporations were set to steal us blind and told in order to keep the people appeased, they must appear to "give" some back. how do these people give what wasn't freely given to them; they do not. they stole it from the people. time to occupy!

[AtomAndYves]

Go occupy a mental ward

[js555554]

How do you make your money I wonder. Or do you expect Bill Gates just give it to you?

[Hazmat77]

Interesting that the named countries are all Oil Giants .. why aren't they funding their own medical problems?

"Among those decisions were that hundreds of millions of dollars in grants planned for China, Brazil, Mexico and Russia will now be used for other purposes, fund officials said."

[verdadseeker]

Totally agree with your comment, especially those rich emerging economies should be more than able to fund their own problems

[Midniterdr]

Come on Warren Buffet,Oprah and the rest of you to step up and put your money where your mouths are.

[harleyrider4freedom]

The Geneva-based fund was set up in 2002 as a new way to launder government payoffs to warlords and corrupt african officials.

The coordinated laundering schemes front was the world effort against these diseases and to speed up emergency payoffs from wealthy nations and donors to corrupt African governments.

[JaDeeDix]

Educate us. Would love to see the info about the payoffs! This money laundering is so twisted! Somebody(ies) need to see the inside of a jail!

[harleyrider4freedom]

Remeber kofi anon former UN president and the food for oil scam with sadaam......his son was indicted in germany for making the payoff deals for the oil! Anon was implicated along with plenty of UN officials! Kick the UN OUT NOW!

[Skipper50]

Who skimmed the cream from this cash cow?

[JaDeeDix]

And the ED has the nerve to say the problem is with the world's troubled economy? Is the dude an idiot?

[mfcurran]

The money wagon is over for everyone. Its time for other countris around the world to pick themselves up and dust themselves off and take care of their own. The US for years is the largest foreign aid contributor on the planet. We developed most of the vaccines for diseases that arent prevolent in the US and liberally distribute them around the world through charitable organizations which ALL expenses are picked up and funded by the US tax payers anyway. Foreign leaders and dictators and ruthless killers come to the US for treatment. Then, WE get told how much WE SUCK!
Guess we're gonna find out?

[vyshinsky]

Totally predictable. When will the taxpayer bailout be announced?

[buildfences]

AIDS will never be stamped out because there are people that will never wear the condoms we send to them, will never stop having sex, while knowing they have this disease... and a lot of the spreading is due to rape!

Malaria starting rising when the environmentalists demanded we stop spraying to kill mosquitoes.....they think it's best to just spend the money on netting! What do they want these people to do, walk around all day with netting over them?

And yes, then there is the mismanagement or theft, from the ones that handle all this money!

[AtomAndYves]

In Africa, a huge number of AIDS infected men TRULY BELIEVE they can be cured by having sex with CHILDREN/VIRGINS.

[FloridaJim]

There is rampant theft and missuse of all charities and anything connected with the United Nations and Global Warming. We give our hardearned dollars in good faith only to be ripped off by theives and scoundrels. How much have we given to AIDS in Africa? How much of that money actually left the charity? Whom were the recipients of my money? I only give to Lutheran Aid because they account for every dollar for good causes.

[JaDeeDix]

It is time to demand transparency of these non-profits so donators can be assured that the majority of money gets to the intended recipients!

[snapperboy]

The US evidently donates about $1 billion, one third of the total contributions, but no comment that
Congress is worried about them wasting money....