Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated Press - November 18, 2005
An Oct. 11 letter from the U.N.-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said there were "serious concerns" about the implementation of programs for which the organization has so far disbursed $17.3 million. Nearly 7,000 Nigerians receive medication under programs that receive money from the Global Fund.
In a reply early this month, Abdulsalami Nasidi, the head of an umbrella body for anti-AIDS groups and government agencies in Nigeria, appealed to the Global Fund to provide the next round of funds - which are scheduled for use over the next three years - and said "all the arrangements are now in place to ensure successful implementation."
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, is the country with the third largest number of people infected with the virus that causes AIDS, after South Africa and India.
Mark Willis, head of Nigerian programs for the Global Fund at its headquarters in Geneva said the organization's board of directors would decide whether to freeze disbursements to the country by the end of December.
In the letter, the Global Fund said Nigeria had failed to provide reliable data on how many patients are being given anti-retroviral drugs against AIDS under the programs and that it was spending the money disbursed too slowly.
"Due to these concerns, the panel would at this time recommend to the board that the grants not be extended," said the letter, signed by the Global Fund's Chief of Operations Bradford Herbert.
Over $9 million remains to be disbursed under two HIV/AIDS programs - one aimed at preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and the other to expand the number of people treated with anti-retroviral drugs that combat the symptoms of AIDS.
In its reply, Nasidi's agency provided data on people treated with anti-retrovirals under Global Fund-financed programs and parallel ones. It said nearly 32,000 people were being treated: 6,865 patients with Global Fund money, 8,596 under U.S.-funded schemes and 16,273 under government programs. Auditors Deloitte & Touche were called in to compile the figures.
Funds were spent slowly because of delays in starting various AIDS treatment programs and in getting fresh drug supplies, Nasidi's agency said.
A top official of Nasidi's agency said he didn't believe aid would be put on hold.
"I don't think the Global Fund is going to stop funding," said Pat Matemilola by telephone from the capital Abuja. "We are gathering momentum. We are learning on the job. I think they can recognize that."
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. Its secretariat is provided by the World Health Organization.
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