Global Fund Panel Recommends $949M in Grants; Board Expected To Approve Proposals
The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's Technical Review Panel on Thursday announced it has approved 85 proposals for grants totaling $949 million over two years ahead of the Global Fund Board meeting scheduled for later this month, according to a Global Fund release. The Global Fund Board is expected to approve the grants at the meeting, which is scheduled for Oct. 31 through Nov. 3 in Guatemala City. The grants approved by the Technical Review Panel represent 43% of all eligible requests received by the Global Fund. The Global Fund will have the ability to approve grants only for which it has adequate funding pledges, according to the release. Some of the grant applications might have to wait for approval until additional donor pledges are received because the Global Fund currently has a funding shortfall of about $300 million. "This robust demand for new resources show[s] that countries both need and can absorb substantial additional resources to fight the three pandemics," Global Fund Executive Director Richard Feachem said, adding, "[D]onors are being presented with high-quality programs which will save thousands of lives and build a global response to these three pandemics. Donor countries must respond to this challenge by pledging sufficient additional resources so all recommended programs can be funded" (Global Fund release, 10/5).
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