Global AIDS fund announces new grants; board chair will not seek reelection

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria announced eight new grant agreements on Wednesday totaling $66 million in funds. The fund will support programs in Argentina, Cambodia, Madagascar, Ukraine, Indonesia, and Panama as well as a global HIV prevention program sponsored by the Lutheran World Federation. Additional grants are expected to be announced in February. In related news, Chrispus Kiyonga, Uganda's national political commissioner and the current chairman of the board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, announced this week that he will not seek reelection for the position. In a fax sent to the other board members, Kiyonga said there are critical matters in his country that would take away from his attention to the fund's efforts, and therefore he would not seek reelection. Richard Feachem, executive director of the fund, praised Kiyonga's work in helping launch the organization. "He is a great man with great dedication to global development and the people of Africa," Feachem said. "I will miss his wise counsel as chair of the board, as I am sure we all will."