Health fund lifts China freeze
Source: Agencies |
August 24, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A TOP global health fund that has come under pressure to clean up corruption has ended its dispute with China and will resume hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for programs to fight AIDS and other diseases.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria first froze disbursements of its AIDS grant to China in November and then all other grants in May over suspected misuse of the money and the government's reluctance to involve community groups.
The Geneva-based Global Fund said yesterday that it is lifting the freeze on funding to China to ensure AIDS work continues while it works with government officials, representatives from United Nations' agencies and private groups to resolve the dispute.
"During these discussions, the parties agreed to resume funding flows to ensure that the Chinese AIDS program would not be impeded by the ongoing efforts to strengthen fiduciary controls and to ensure sufficient civil society engagement in The Global Fund-supported programs," Global Fund spokesman Jon Liden said in an e-mail.
"China and The Global Fund will continue to work closely together to tighten fiduciary controls and ensure that programs are as effective as possible in combatting the three diseases."
The Global Fund froze payments of a US$283 million AIDS grant in November after finding that Chinese government agencies had breached an agreement by channeling too small a share of the funds to grass-roots groups. Then in May, it stopped payments of all other grants in China after concerns about how the money was being used by the thousands of counties that receive grant payments.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria first froze disbursements of its AIDS grant to China in November and then all other grants in May over suspected misuse of the money and the government's reluctance to involve community groups.
The Geneva-based Global Fund said yesterday that it is lifting the freeze on funding to China to ensure AIDS work continues while it works with government officials, representatives from United Nations' agencies and private groups to resolve the dispute.
"During these discussions, the parties agreed to resume funding flows to ensure that the Chinese AIDS program would not be impeded by the ongoing efforts to strengthen fiduciary controls and to ensure sufficient civil society engagement in The Global Fund-supported programs," Global Fund spokesman Jon Liden said in an e-mail.
"China and The Global Fund will continue to work closely together to tighten fiduciary controls and ensure that programs are as effective as possible in combatting the three diseases."
The Global Fund froze payments of a US$283 million AIDS grant in November after finding that Chinese government agencies had breached an agreement by channeling too small a share of the funds to grass-roots groups. Then in May, it stopped payments of all other grants in China after concerns about how the money was being used by the thousands of counties that receive grant payments.
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