[Ip-health] WSJ: Finalists Are Named for Global Health Fund Post

[Thiru Balasubramaniam]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB116036061240386496.html?mod=world_news_whats_news



  Finalists Are Named for
  Global Health Fund Post

By *BETSY MCKAY*
October 9, 2006; Page B6

A U.S. congressman and a senior executive with Viacom
<http://online.wsj.com/quotes/main.html?type=djn&symbol=via> Inc.'s MTV
Networks are among the leading candidates to become the next chief of
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, according to
people familiar with the search.

A list of five finalists to succeed the Geneva-based foundation's
current executive director, Richard Feachem, is expected to be delivered
to the Global Fund's 24-member board today. Among the names those people
say are on the list are Jim Kolbe, a Republican congressman from Arizona
who has championed U.S. funding to fight AIDS globally, and Bill Roedy,
vice chairman of MTV Networks and president of MTV Networks International.

The list could change if any of the top five withdraw, the people
familiar with the search cautioned.

Some well-known public health veterans are finalists, including Michel
Kazatchkine, a former Global Fund vice chairman and France's global
ambassador for HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases, according to people
familiar with the search. But the list doesn't include some of the most
prominent figures in global public health, such as former senior
officials with the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The other two candidates expected to be on the final list are Michel
Sidibe, director of country and regional support department at UNAIDS
and a 26-year veteran of international public health and development;
and Hilde Johnson, a former minister of international development in Norway.

The Global Fund board is expected to make its final choice for the job
at a meeting in Guatemala on Oct. 31.

Many challenges await the new Global Fund chief, such as persuading
countries and organizations to contribute to the independent fund
despite growing donor fatigue. The foundation, created by the United
Nations in 2002 to boost funding to fight the world's greatest
infectious scourges, is one of the world's three largest health
financiers. It has committed $5.5 billion to finance programs in 132
countries, and is raising money to fund a sixth round of grants.

---- David Rogers contributed to this article.

*Write to *Betsy McKay at betsy.mckay@wsj.com <mailto:betsy.mckay@wsj.com>