OF NOTE THIS WEEK

The Global Fund last week approved $2.4 billion in Round 9 grants to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB over the next two years, according to a press release. The figure is $350 million less than the grants in Round 8 but is the second-largest total ever approved by the Fund. Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine said, "We are seeing a tremendous demand for funding. We may not be able to continue approving such amounts of financing unless donor countries scale up their funding even further," Reuters reports.

The HIV/AIDS Monitor newsletter will be off next week. We will resume publication on December 3.

NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE DONORS

• U.S. Ambassador Eric Goosby highlights PEPFAR's accomplishments and outlines his vision for the future
• The Global Fund will provide $24 million of new funding to fight HIV/AIDS in Russia
• PEPFAR releases its November newsletter
• The World Bank announces a new policy on access to information
• The World Bank extends a $110 million credit to Mozambique to help the country cope with effects of the financial crisis

OTHER NEWS AND HIGHLIGHTS

• Global Fund to Spend $2.4B over Two Years (Reuters)
• Experts Propose New Ways to Slow Africa's Population Growth (AFP)
• Uganda: AIDS Commission Takes New Direction in Prevention (Plus News)
• Zambia Records Drop in HIV Infections (Zambia Post)
• Common Cold Virus Linked to Failure of HIV Vaccine Test (AP/Wall St. Journal)
• Opinion: Pay More Attention to Silent Killers (Business Daily)
• Kaiser Family Foundation releases results of a new tracking survey on global health

RECENT CGD HEALTH POLICY BLOGS

• How the Global Fund is Dealing with More Demand Than Supply By David Wendt
• Health Systems 101 By Rachel Nugent

HIV/AIDS MONITOR RECOMMENDATIONS AND POLICY IMPACT

• The HIV/AIDS Monitor has been tracking the policy changes among PEPFAR, the Global Fund and the World Bank MAP related to the recommendations that have come out of our research. Explore these changes using our interactive flash tool.