In an address to the fifty-second World Health Assembly in Geneva, United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan detailed plans for the Global Aids and Health Fund.

"The Fund would be governed by an independent Board, on which all significant stakeholders would be represented — including, of course, the governments of developing countries," Annan said. "In addition, there would be a small secretariat, to do the day-to-day administration, and a strong advisory body, on which the best international experts would be asked to serve."

Mandated to set broad policies in support of national strategies, the board "would insist on transparency and accountability, so that we can be sure the money is being spent in ways that are effective, and that it is reaching the people who need it most," the secretary-general added.

Annan also emphasized that the fund "must be additional to existing funds and mechanisms, not just a new way of channeling money that is already earmarked for development."

To date, the United States has donated $200 million to the fund, while Annan himself has pledged the $200,000 he will receive later this year as winner of the Philadelphia Liberty Medal.