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The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria said Tuesday it has asked two high-level officials to review grant disbursements and possibly recommend policy improvements. Former Botswanan President Festus Mogae and Michael Leavitt, a former Republican governor of Utah and secretary of the US Health and Human Services from 2005 to 2009, will co-chair a panel to examine the fund's financial systems.Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine said the aim is to provide reassurances to donors amid several incidents of grant fraud or misuse. Findings from the external review will be reported within a few months, he said. "If they say these are additional measures you should consider, then of course we will implement them," he said.
The Global Fund has suspended grants or instituted new safeguards in Zambia, Mali, Mauritania, and Djibouti following reports of fraudulent invoices and payments, among other irregularities. While the fund's own inspector general disclosed the fraud, media reports in January put some donors on guard.
Germany, one of the largest donors to the Global Fund, halted disbursements and requested a financial review. The United States, the fund's biggest donor, is considering slashing its contribution by up to 43 percent, from $1.05 billion in fiscal year 2010 to $600 million in fiscal 2011.
The fund is working to recover $43.3 million from 11 countries. Of that, $11.2 million was stolen and $32.1 million was either not properly accounted for or spent on activities outside of the grants' scope.
The review panel will include three to five other individuals in addition to Mogae and Leavitt. "The world will get a candid report," said Leavitt.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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