Is the World Bank Failing on AIDS?

Although the World Bank has invested more than $17 billion in global health programs since 1997 -- 60% of which has gone toward HIV prevention and treatment -- its efforts in areas like nutrition and malaria treatment and prevention are far more successful than the agency's AIDS work, according to a report by the bank's Independent Evaluation Group. According to the report, seven of every 10 World Bank AIDS programs worldwide and eight of 10 in AIDS-ravaged Africa are performing unsatisfactorily, mostly due to weak monitoring and infrastructure, poor program implementation, and overly complex programs. Difficulties in coordinating collaboration with donors, nonprofit groups, and government agencies also hampered the programs' efforts, the report said. To remedy the situation, the report recommends simplifying the programs, setting more modest goals, and reducing the numbers of outside groups involved in the efforts. 'I accept much of the report; I accept it as constructive criticism,' said World Bank director of health, nutrition, and population Julian Schweitzer.