Global Fund approves USD 1bn in new grants

The board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has approved 73 new grants worth USD 1.1bn over the next two years.

Forty-eight per cent of the total funding goes to HIV and AIDS activities, 42 per cent for malaria and 10 per cent for TB, according to the fund.

It was also revealed that 66 per cent of the projects are in Africa, 13 per cent in Asia, 13 per cent in the Middle East and five per cent in Latin America. More than 80 per cent of the grants will go to low-income countries.

The Global Fund Board also approved USD 130m for renewal of five grants that are nearing their five-year expiration dates.

According to the fund, the seventh round of grants brings the fund's portfolio to USD 10bn in 136 countries. About 50 per cent of the proposals submitted for round seven were approved, up from an average of 40 per cent during the previous six rounds. The West Bank and Gaza won approval for their first grant to support an HIV prevention programme.

The new grants increased the fund's grant allocation by 32 per cent over the USD 846m allocation originally planned for 2007. The fund says it needs between USD 12bn and USD 18bn to pay for existing programmes and to launch new ones between 2008 and 2010.