Africa's Standard Bank to help HIV grant recipients

GENEVA Jan 26 (Reuters) - South Africa's Standard Bank will provide free advisory help to countries receiving grants to tackle HIV and other diseases, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said on Monday.

Under the pilot partnership, Standard Bank, the largest in Africa by assets, will help four governments manage and report on the funds they receive from the Geneva-based health financier that was set up as a private-public partnership in 2001.

The programme is expected to be extended gradually to more African countries, the Global Fund said.

Only about $180 million of the $3.1 billion the Global Fund received last year came from private sources such as Chevron <CVX.N and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Global Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine has made it one of his key priorities to increase private-sector support of his organisation's work.

In a statement, he said the Standard Bank deal "shows that the corporate sector in Africa is ready to play a constructive role in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria."

The Global Fund has committed $14.9 billion to prevent and treat the three diseases in 140 countries worldwide. (Reporting by Laura MacInnis)