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Wednesday, August 24, 2005 The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said Wednesday it has suspended grants to Uganda based on evidence of serious financial mismanagement. A review by accountants of one of the Global Fund's five grants to Uganda uncovered mismanagement by the African country's Ministry of Health, which is responsible for overseeing the implementation of Global Fund programs, the Geneva-based aid organization said. The grants, to treat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, are worth a total of $201 million, of which $45.4 million has been disbursed, the Global Fund said. The aid agency told Uganda's Finance Ministry to come up with a plan by the end of October to change its arrangements for using the grants, including disbanding the Health Ministry's project management unit, the Global Fund said. In Kampala, Uganda, Health Minister Jim Muhwezi said he had been informed of the fund's decision. "This is not good news, because it is disruptive, but we hope that the issues being raised will be sorted out very soon," he told The Associated Press. In the interim, the Global Fund said it will continue to work with Ugandan authorities to ensure that urgent treatment and prevention measures are not disrupted. "The Global Fund remains committed to the support of efforts to combat the three diseases in Uganda and will provide all possible support to enable the quick resumption of full grant-funded activities," the statement said. The Global Fund was created out of an initiative outlined by the world's richest countries at the 2001 Group of Eight economic summit in Genoa, Italy, where they pledged to step up funding to fight HIV/AIDS and other global epidemics. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/08/24/international/i122733D99.DTL --- End forwarded message --- |
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