Zimbabwe's HIV/AIDS programs hang in the balance after the country failed to return more than $7 million to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Thursday, the Integrated Regional Information Networks reported.
Michael Kazatchkine, director of the Global Fund, warned Zimbabwe earlier in the week that it would not receive any future grants if the money was not returned by the Nov. 6 deadline, IRIN reported.
Zimbabwe currently receives $88 million in grants from the fund, which goes toward enrolling 13,000 people in AIDS treatment and distributing 330,000 insecticide-treated bed nets to help combat malaria, according to IRIN.
While Zimbabwe has not been accused of fraud, the Fund will not distribute aid to the country until it receives a guarantee that it will not happen again, Global Fund spokesman Joe Linden told IRIN.
-M.M.
