Global Fund Disbursed Record $3B In 2010, Faces More Than $1B Shortfall For 2011-13, Report Says

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Thursday in Paris released a report (.pdf) noting that while it disbursed a record $3 billion in 2010, the $1.3 billion shortfall if faces for 2011-2013, "threaten[s] goals to roll back diseases that together claim more than four million lives a year," Agence France-Presse reports. Pledges from nations and private sources so far amount to $11.7 billion, but the Global Fund estimates it will require at least $13 billion and up to $20 billion to cover estimated needs.

The worldwide economic downturn that began in 2008 has affected donations to the fund, and several countries suspended their donations earlier this year following reports of an internal audit showing four African nations misused Global Fund grant money, the news service notes (Hood, 5/19). According to a Global Fund press release, the report "also assesses prospects in the five year run-up to the 2015 Millennium Development Goal of bringing AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria under control" (5/19). Global Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine said he plans to advocate for additional funding at the G20 meeting in Deauville, France, at the end of the month, Agence France-Presse reports (5/19).