Press Release |
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PRESS RELEASES |
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22 April 2005 |
Global Fund Board Elects New Leadership
Geneva, Switzerland – The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today elected a new Chair and Vice-Chair of the Board. Dr. Carol Jacobs, Chair of the National Commission for HIV/AIDS of Barbados, has been elected Chair of the Board of the Global Fund. The new Vice-Chair is Prof. Michel Kazatchkine, M.D., France's Ambassador on HIV/AIDS and Transmissible Diseases.
Dr. Carol Jacobs takes over the role of Chair from former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson. Prof. Kazatchkine succeeds Dr Hélène Rossert-Blavier, the General Director of the French NGO AIDES as Vice Chair. The election took place at the Global Fund’s 10th Board meeting in Geneva.
Dr. Jacobs is a national of the Caribbean and a medical graduate of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica, with nine years’ work experience in government service in Barbados (at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital), before going in to family practice in the private sector.
Dr. Jacobs has served as Chairman of Barbados National HIV/AIDS
Commission since 2001, spearheading an expanded national response
to HIV/AIDS. She joined the Board of the Global Fund as the Board
representative for the Latin America and Caribbean Region in January
2004.
Professor Michel Kazatchkine, M.D., France's Ambassador on HIV/AIDS
and Transmissible Diseases, has been working in the field of AIDS
for the past 20 years.
An immunologist, Prof. Kazatchkine started treating AIDS patients in 1983, which led to his opening an AIDS clinic in 1985. In 1988, Prof. Kazatchkine became the director of the French National Research Agency (ANRS), the world's 2nd largest AIDS research program.
The Global Fund's Board is a unique structure for a financing mechanism as governments, non-governmental organizations and people representing communities living with the three diseases all share governance responsibilities. It includes representatives of donor and recipient governments, non-governmental organizations, the private sector (including businesses and foundations) and affected communities. Donors hold nine voting seats, while recipients hold ten seats on the Board. In addition, key international development partners participate – but do not vote. These include the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Bank. The latter also serves as the Global Fund's trustee.
The Global Fund Board elects a Chair and a Vice-Chair for two-year terms. The Chair and Vice-Chair positions alternate between representatives of the donor block and the recipient block.
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The Global Fund is a unique global public-private partnership dedicated
to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and
treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. This partnership between
governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities
represents a new approach to international health financing. The
Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral
organizations to supplement existing efforts dealing with the three
diseases.
Apart from a high standard of technical quality, the Global Fund
attaches no conditions to any of its grants. It is not an implementing
agency, instead relying on local ownership and planning to ensure
that new resources are directed to programs on the frontline of
this global effort to reach those most in need. Its performance-based
approach to grant-making is designed to ensure that funds are used
efficiently and create real change for people and communities. All
programs are monitored by independent organizations contracted by
the Global Fund to ensure that its funding has an impact in the
fight against these three pandemics.
For further information, please contact:
| Rosie Vanek The Global Fund (Geneva, Switzerland) Phone: + 41 22 791 5951 Mobile: + 41 79 445 14 85 |
Jon Liden The Global Fund (Geneva, Switzerland) Phone: + 41 22 791 1723 Mobile: + 41 79 244 6006 |
