Dr. Carol Jacobs, the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) representative to the Board of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, was elected as the new Chair at the Fund's Tenth Board Meeting currently underway in Geneva, Switzerland.

Unanimously elected for a two-year term, Dr Jacobs holds the distinction of being the first woman ever to be selected, and the first Caribbean national to chair the board of any global AIDS policy or financial institution.

Currently the Chairman of Barbados' National HIV/AIDS Commission and Special HIV/AIDS Envoy to Barbados' Prime Minister, Dr. Jacobs succeeds Mr. Tommy Thompson, former US Secretary of Health and Human Services. She assumes her responsibility as Chair at the end of the board meeting.

Dr Jacobs has been the LAC representative to the Global Fund Board since 2004, and has previously represented the Caribbean on the boards of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Programme against AIDS (GPA) and The UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB). Her experience in HIV/AIDS spans 18 years of activity as a physician in the public and private sectors and in the non-governmental community.

In her acceptance speech, Dr Jacobs affirmed her commitment to equity, transparency, addressing the needs of the poor and vulnerable populations, and increasing the capacity of countries to speed up the implementation of Global Fund projects.

Chair of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP), Dr. the Hon. Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis and the CARICOM Head of Government with responsibility for Health and HIV/AIDS extended congratulations, both personal and on behalf of CARICOM and the entire Partnership. He remarked that the appointment was "indeed a significant and timely achievement for the Region as it accelerates its response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic". The Tenth Board Meeting of the Global Fund for AIDS, Tubercolisis and Malaria opened on Thursday 21 April and ends on Friday 22 April, 2005