As
UNAIDS Names Aishwarya
an Envoy, of
Novartis Case
& India's
Global Fund
Loss
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 24
-- Just as the
Clinton Global
Initiative is
a
platform for
Proctor &
Gamble and
even
Freeport-McMoRan
mining to
announce
partnerships
with Smoky
Robinson, for
example, the
UN
General
Assembly
allows UN
agencies to
launch new
public faces.
UNAIDS
on Monday
"appointed
global Indian
icon Aishwarya
Rai Bachchan
as
International
Goodwill
Ambassador."
Inner City
Press asked
UNAIDS
executive
director
Michel Sidibe,
as before,
about the
scandal
of the Global
Funds on Aids,
Malaria and
Tuberculosis
not funding
anymore (after
it
"contributed
the maximum of
`630.44 crores
in
2009-10 and
`307.58 in
2010-11" in
India.) Video
here, from
Minute 19:45.
Sidibe
put a brave
face on this,
saying this is
an opportunity
for India to
start funding
its own
programs. Yes,
but that's
true of all
countries
previously
receiving
Global Fund
help.
Sidibe
indirectly
acknowledged
the problem,
referring to
"Global Fund
reforms" so it
will have
"credibility
again."
It's
rare for the
UN system to
admit the need
for more
credibility:
so
far, for
example, no
one has been
held
accountable
for the Law
and
Order Trust
Fund for
Afghanistan
scandal
documented in
leaked audits
Inner City
Press has
published.
But even on
this,
Secretary
General
Ban
Ki-moon ended
up giving yet
another post,
AIDS envoy to
Central
Asia and
Eastern
Europe, to the
man
responsible
for the Global
Fund
scandal:
Michel
Kazatchkine.
One still
wonders
what Sidibe
thinks of
this.
Inner
City Press
asked
Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan about
the case in
India in
which Novartis
is pursuing a
patent case in
such a way as
would
undermine the
availability
of generic
drugs,
including AIDS
drugs, at
lower costs. Video
here, from
Minute 21:54.
Aishwarya
Rai
Bachchan
replied that,
"I'm learning
so that I can
step
forward." Fair
enough. Watch
this site.
, 
