Poorer Countries Press for Changes to AIDS Fund
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Several developing countries on Wednesday urged changes to the newly
launched Global Fund against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis to give states
with the most patients more of a voice in its activities. In speeches to
the World Health Assembly, the governing body of the World Health
Organization (WHO), some states voiced concern that the flow of money to
the Fund could falter after the initial burst of donations.

The Fund was first proposed by United Nations Secretary- General Kofi
Annan in 2001 and formally launched early this year with a war chest of $2
billion in cash and pledges. Mozambique's representative said, "It is a
good start but the doubt is about whether it is sustainable." Speaking to
the assembly of 191 member states, other countries, such as Botswana, also
argued for Africa to be given more of a say in the workings of the Fund.
"We recommend that Africa's representation on the board, committees, be
reviewed to make sure that it is in proportion to the burden of the
disease," a representative said.

Despite having one of the highest AIDS rates in the world, Botswana failed
to win any financing in April, when the Fund announced its first grants
for individual country projects to fight the three epidemics. Botswana
said that states, particularly the poorest, did not have enough time to
put together the kind of project that the Fund required. "It is critical
that guidelines should be more user-friendly," its representative said.

The Fund's 18-member executive board is made up of seven representatives
each from developing and developed states, two non-governmental
organizations and two from corporate donors. Annan has said that more than
$7 billion will be needed annually to halt the spread of AIDS, malaria,
and TB, which together kill over 6 million people a year, many of them in
sub-Saharan Africa.

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