Corruption eating up two-thirds of Aids fund

UP to two-thirds of a €16bn development fund into which charities such as Bono’s Product Red contribute is being eaten up through corruption, it has been claimed.

Investigators of the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria say much of the money is being accounted for with forged documents or improper bookkeeping. According to the Associated Press, even donated prescriptions end up being sold on the black market.

The investigators told the fund’s board of directors that 67% of money spent on an anti-Aids programme in Mauritania was misspent as was 36% of the money spent on a programme in Mali to fight tuberculosis and malaria, and 30% of grants to Djibouti.