Global Fund faces billion-dollar glitch

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/global-fund-faces-billion-dollar-glitch/story-e6freonf-1226059321270

THE Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria warned yesterday it faced a shortfall of more than a billion dollars, threatening goals to roll back diseases that together claim more than four million lives a year.

The Geneva-based Fund said it needed at least $12.25 billion for 2011-2013 to cover minimum estimated needs, yet pledges from donor nations and private sources so far amounted to only $11.02 billion.

Its maximum needs for the three-year period could top $18.84 billion, Global Fund executive director Michel Kazatchkine told a press conference in Paris.

Without extra resources, the progress of new programs will be "significantly slower" compared with previous years, he warned.





i am unsure if any experts have expressed 'surprise' at this time.