Global health fund rocked by scandal; Germany suspends payments

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has been rocked by a shocking scandal.

The Associated Press reported that as much as two-thirds of the global health fund's grants have been swindled by corruption.

Some of the money donated was accounted for with forged documents or improper bookkeeping, which indicate it was embezzled. Donated drugs were sold on the black market.

The findings were made by the fund's inspector general's office. The officials examined only a small fraction of the billions of dollars the fund possesses. However, the levels of corruption in the grants they have audited so far are astonishing, reported the Associated Press.

In response, Germany has suspended all financial support for the fund, including a pledge of $270 million for 2011.

Sweden has also suspended its $85 million annual donation.

Below are some specifics of the corruption:

In a program in Mauritania to fight AIDS, 67 percent of the money was misspent

In a program in Mali to fight tuberculosis and malaria, 36 percent of the money was misspent

In a program in Djibouti, 30 percent of grants were misspent. Some of it was used to buy cars and motorcycles

In Zambia, $3.5 million in spending was unaccounted for and an accountant embezzled $104,130

This scandal comes after the global health fund entered its replenishment phase in 2010, meaning it needed to secure continued financing from donors.

In March of last year, the organization said from 2011 to 2013, it needs at least $13 billion to fund existing program at lower levels than past years, $17 billion to fund existing programs at the same level as past years, and $20 billion to scale up the programs.

Now, as countries have pulled pledges and others are contemplating doing so, the global health fund's programs may face significant financing shortfalls.