Tag: Geneva

The Global Fund Money Squandered

Corruption and greed has lost The Global Fund and the countries Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan hundreds and thousands of dollars. The Global Fund had allocated a great deal of money to the two states which were eventually used improperly costing all three parties the donation. Vesti.KG reported the story initially, “The Global Fund demanded Kyrgyzstan compensate it for a loss of over $120,000. The Global Fund believes it has proof of theft of grants by various Kyrgyz state officials. A similar story — only with slightly larger sums of theft — was reported in neighboring Tajikistan two months ago and is still being poured over by local media.”

After The Global Fund launched an investigation with the Office of Inspector General (OIG) after the Fund realized the money was not being allocated properly. After the findings of the investigation, the Inspector General uncovered the had been incorrectly spending and allocating money through the Committee for Youth, Sports and Tourism of Tajikistan. The Global Fund then blacklisted the Committee from receiving any further funding. Even though the Tajikistan Committee accused is calling the reports false, after a full audit concluded that over $120 thousand of the $300 thousand given to the Committee had been either used wrongly or distributed to another organization. The Committee apparently worked with a very unorthodox company, Komyob, which used the money to purchase “non-health products such as MP3 and DVD-players, notebooks, pens and health insurance packages with prices inflated by an average of 118% when compared to the market value of the products.

With the missing money the Global Fund hopes to get their money back shortly so they can truly allocate it to a good cause which can save lives. For more information and news on The Global Fund, please visit Scott Filler‘s official website.

Global Fund – Progress

The fight to cure malaria has yielded some spectacular results this year, news which is welcomed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The results come from the phase three trial of RTS,S, a malaria vaccine candidate.

So far, RTS,S has shown a 54% reduction in cases of clinical malaria over the first year of follow-up and a 36% reduction in clinical malaria over a 48 month period among children vaccinated between 5-17 months old who received four doses of RTS,S. The five year trial involved 15,459 children and infants, and concluded in January. Overall, more than 1,700 cases of clinical malaria were averted per 1,000 children vaccinated across different trial sites on average.

Leaders of both Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund have voice their satisfaction upon hearing this results and hope that a vaccine like RTS,S can become the powerful and newest addition to the tools used to fight malaria. Yearly, malaria leads to the death of thousands of children across developing countries, in particular the sub-Saharan Africa region. The Global Fund has been one of many organizations that has mounted efforts to curb the rise of malaria.

Currently, RTS,S is being reviewed by the European Medicines Agency, which is expected to provide a scientific opinion later in the year. If the opinion of the European Medicines Agency is positive, that would give the green light for the World Health Organization to make recommendations on the use of RTS,S. Ultimately, this is the hope of the Global Fund and Gavi, who wish to add RTS,S to the current methods for combating malaria which include mosquito nets and indoor spraying.

For more news and updates on The Global Fund, please visit Scott Filler‘s official website.

$30 Million To Fight Malaria & TB

The entire globe is out on a mission, that mission is to wipe out two very deadly diseases. Australia has promised $30 million dollars to fight against Malaria and Tuberculosis. Roughly $10 million will be given immediately to support a late-stage treatment for Tuberculosis, and $10 million will also be given to help find tools to develop drugs to help fight Malaria. The other $10 million will be distributed accordingly depending on which area needs the extra funding. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop at AUSMIN meeting

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop explained the reason for funding the two diseases, “Drug resistant TB and malaria pose a threat to health security in our region and carry a high burden for our Asia-Pacific neighbours.” With the obvious concern of Malaria in developing countries in the Indo-Pacific area, Australia felt it was necessary to help out since the proximity of these nations and the potential harm it can cause if TB or Malaria makes it way to the island. Rather then take such a big risk, the best move for themselves and the world is to attempt to wipe out such deadly forces in the region. Australia has seen over 1,300 cases of TB since 2011 and the numbers of cases are slowly rising which is a major concern for the Australian government.

Every year roughly 1.2 million people die in the Indo-Pacific due to Tuberculosis, and these cases are spreading to developed countries and continents. The world is on high alert in hopes to fight and prevent the spread of these problems. The Global Fund is advocating for countries around the world to help fight since this is a global epidemic. Not only the problems of the few under developed countries.

For more updates on Malaria and The Global Fund, please visit Scott Filler‘s official website.