[health-vn] UN-BACKED DISEASE-FIGHTING FUND ANNOUNCES ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE

[Vern Weitzel]

Subject: UN-BACKED DISEASE-FIGHTING FUND ANNOUNCES ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE
Date: Fri, 1 May 2009 12:00:05 -0400
From: UNNews <UNNews at un.org>
To: <news9 at secint00.un.org>

UN-BACKED DISEASE-FIGHTING FUND ANNOUNCES ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE
New York, May  1 2009 12:00PM
The United Nations-supported initiative that helps countries fight AIDS, 
tuberculosis and malaria announced today that it is developing a code of conduct 
for suppliers, backed by a sanctions regime, to ensure its billions of dollars 
of outlays are not misused.

<"http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/">The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis 
and Malaria is the world's largest financier of programmes fighting the three 
diseases, with a total of $15.6 billion approved for programmes in 140 countries 
and with expected disbursements of $2.9 billion in 2009.

Over the past ten years, global funding for AIDS, TB and malaria has seen a 
dramatic increase and new, global markets have been created for products 
including antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) against AIDS, artemisinin-based 
combination therapies (ACTs) against malaria and long-lasting, 
insecticide-treated bed nets.

These markets have grown from nearly nothing to hundreds of millions of dollars 
in only a few years, resulting in a large pressure on national governments and 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to procure the products while keeping 
control of funds.

"The Global Fund has a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and we have 
repeatedly taken firm and public action against any grantees and suppliers when 
there is evidence that our funding has been misused," says Michel Kazatchkine, 
Executive Director of the Global Fund.

"We will work closely with the other leading funders of global health programmes 
to reduce the risk of misuse of money earmarked by donors to save lives," Dr. 
Kazatchkine said.

Building on the Global Fund’s existing policies and practices, the new code of 
conduct will set clear and coherent guidelines, available on its web site, that 
all suppliers will be expected to adhere to, the Fund said in a 
http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/pressreleases/?pr=pr_090501 news release.

The accompanying sanctions policy will set out the actions that the Global Fund 
may take when there is evidence that the Code has been breached, the Fund added.

As of March 2009, Global Fund-supported programmes are estimated to have averted 
more than 3.5 million deaths by providing AIDS treatment for 2 million people, 
anti-tuberculosis treatment for 4.6 million people, and by distributing 70 
million insecticide-treated bed nets for the prevention of malaria, according to 
the Fund’s figures.
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For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news