[Ip-health] Global health organization prepares to name leader

[Riaz K Tayob]

FYI

Global health organization prepares to name leader By John Donnelly,
Globe Staff  |  January 9, 2007

WASHINGTON -- The next leader of a global organization that fights major
infectious diseases, including AIDS, may come from a group that includes
the former health minister of Mexico, France's AIDS ambassador, the
former leader of UNICEF, and several leaders of the World Health
Organization, according to a list of names obtained by the Globe.

The board overseeing the organization, Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria, failed to select a new executive director last
November and now hopes to name one at a meeting in Geneva early next month.

The fund, which has committed spending $6.8 billion in donations from
governments and private foundations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, now faces a period in which donors are expecting more
detailed proof that its programs are working. The fund, which started in
2001, is operating in 138 countries. A nomination committee, aided by an
executive search firm, has narrowed the field to at least nine people,
according to a person familiar with the proceedings who asked not to be
identified because the fund had pledged to keep candidates' names secret.

The nine are Julio Frenk, Mexico's former health minister who was a
finalist last year to be head of the World Health Organization; Michel
Kazatchkine, France's AIDS ambassador and one of two finalists for the
fund's executive director post last year; David Nabarro, a senior WHO
administrator now leading United Nations efforts to fight avian flu and
a possible human pandemic influenza; Alex Coutinho, a highly successful
manager of AIDS treatment programs in Uganda; and Carol Bellamy, who led
UNICEF from 1995 to
2005 and now is president of World Learning, an international
educational organization based in Brattleboro .

Also under consideration are Kunio Waki , a Japanese national who leaves
his post as deputy executive director of the UN Population Fund at the
end of the month; Jack Chow , a former State Department senior official
who also headed WHO's AIDS programs; Arata Kochi , head of WHO's
reenergized malaria program; and Brad Herbert , former director of
operations for the fund. The candidates either applied for the job or a
board member nominated them. The nomination committee is scheduled to
interview the finalists next week and is expected to present a short
list of five candidates to the full board by Jan. 19.

The other finalist for the post last year, Michel Sidibe , has withdrawn
from consideration, saying the voting process "bitterly polarized" the
20-member Global Fund board, according to a Dec. 17 e-mail he sent to
Carol Jacobs, the board chair . Under its rules, two-thirds of the board
from developing countries and two-thirds of the board from wealthy
countries must both support the executive director; Sidibe and
Kazatchkine failed to win both super-majorities.

Bernard Rivers , editor of the Global Fund Observer , an independent
newsletter that closely tracks the organization, said he did not know
the names of candidates under consideration by the fund's nomination
committee.

When the organization began five years ago, "I was saying the most
important thing was getting the donors to give the money," Rivers said
yesterday in a phone interview from Dublin . Rivers said the next
executive director's top priority should be to show results from the
fund's programs.

"Now the biggest challenge is getting the grants to perform, because
once they perform the donors either will volunteer more money or moral
pressure can be put on them to come up with more money."

John Donnelly can be reached at donnelly@globe.com