Efforts to intensify the fight against lethal infectious diseases suffered an embarrassing setback yesterday after board members for the world's largest multilateral health funder failed to agree on the selection of a new executive director.

The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which has raised $10bn (€8bn, £5.4bn) from donor governments since 2002 to tackle the killer diseases, said it had postponed until April the decision on appointing its top official.