Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Wall Street Journal - November 2, 2006
Betsy McKay, betsy.mckay@wsj.com
The foundation's 24-member board had been scheduled to appoint a new executive director to succeed its current executive director, Richard Feachem, who has led the organization since its inception in 2002. But its failure to reach a consensus on a candidate suggests that some board members weren't satisfied with five finalists identified by a search committee last month and are seeking a stronger contender.
The five candidates the board deliberated over at a meeting in Guatemala this week include Jim Kolbe, a Republican congressman and Bill Roedy, vice chairman of Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks and president of MTV Networks International. Other candidates included Michel Kazatchkine, a former Global Fund vice chairman who is France's ambassador for HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases; Michel Sidibe, a UNAIDS official and a 26-year veteran of international public health and development; and Hilde Johnson, a former minister of international development in Norway.
While some well-known public-health veterans were among the finalists, the list didn't include some of the more prominent figures in global public health. Many challenges await the Global Fund's new chief: he or she must accelerate fund raising among large donor countries to fight the three killer diseases to which the foundation is devoted, public health experts say.
"Given differing perceptions of the strengths needed to continue the Global Fund's rapid progress," the board "could not reach consensus on a single candidate," Carol Jacobs, the board's chairwoman, said in a statement. She said the board will aim to appoint a new executive director by its next meeting in April 2007.
The Global Fund, based in Geneva, also said its board approved a $604 million round of new grants, bringing its total portfolio of grants awarded so far to $6.4 billion in 135 countries.
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