Health group picks finalists for director

WASHINGTON -- The board overseeing the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria has narrowed the choice for its new executive director to three candidates -- two European global health specialists and an African physician who has quickly established a system of AIDS treatment centers in Uganda, officials confirmed yesterday.

The finalists, according to officials close to the process who asked not to be identified, are Michel Kazatchkine, France's HIV/AIDS ambassador; David Nabarro, a British national now leading the United Nation's efforts to fight avian flu; and Alex Coutinho, executive director of the AIDS Support Organization in Kampala, Uganda.

The board is set to meet in Geneva next week to select a director, possibly by Feb. 8.

The fund has committed $7 billion in 136 countries. It is the world's second - largest AIDS program, behind the US government effort, and the largest initiative to control TB and malaria.

The next director would replace Richard G. A. Feachem, who has been in charge of the fund since soon after its inception in 2001 and is scheduled to leave at the end of March. The board failed to select a candidate in November, when members became deadlocked over two candidates.

John Donnelly can be reached at donnelly@globe.com