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A recent report by the UK charity, ActionAid, claims that British spending on global HIV/AIDS initiatives lacks transparency.
In its document 'Real Aid - an Agenda for Making Aid Work', the charity said the Department for International Development (DFID) failed to provide accurate records of what proportion of the almost US $2.8 billion pledged to AIDS programmes over the next three years would be spent on prevention, treatment and care.
ActionAid said the lack of information made it impossible to tell which developing countries were receiving aid, and whether any restrictions were being placed on how it was spent.
Felicity Daly, author of the report, said in a statement, "As one of the major donors to HIV/AIDS programmes in developing countries, DFID has a responsibility for greater transparency."
A senior DFID official responded by saying that the UK had one of the best records in tackling the pandemic in developing countries.
"It's simply nonsense to suggest that a third of UK aid is 'phantom' - ActionAid's figures just don't stack up. It's absurd to argue that debt relief, or practical advice from technical experts, isn't real aid," said Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for International Development.
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