AIDS Patients Protest China's Selection of Board for Fund

Chinese activists are protesting the election of a board that will oversee how the country spends tens of millions of dollars it receives from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. Around 75 patients and grassroots organizations have signed six letters charging that the selections made by the Health Ministry's Center for Disease Control and Prevention were undemocratic and not transparent. Chinese officials were required to hold elections to form a board that is well-represented by local NGOs, patients, international agencies, government ministries, and others. But activists said the center did not adequately inform them of the elections, failed to send them ballots, and that the election process lacked transparency throughout. Wan Yanhai of the Beijing Aizhixing Institute, which was not elected to the board, also questioned whether the ministry adequately checked the backgrounds of some groups to verify their NGO status. The activists intend to submit their protest letters to the Global Fund's headquarters in Geneva, China's Health Ministry and the newly elected board.

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