Bill and Chelsea Clinton will step down from the board of a major division in the Clinton Foundation - but only if Hillary is elected, the charitable organization said.

The institution announced on Wednesday that the two Clintons would step down from the board of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the Foundation's flagship health project, in an apparent attempt to appease critics of its links to public office.

It will also spin out the division, it said.

The Foundation released the news as it prepares to host its final Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York next week, where speakers will include the President of the Republic of Colombia and the CEO of Sony.

Bill Clinton previously said it would be the last as the organization awaits the nation's vote.

The Clinton Health Access Initiative accounts for about two thirds of the foundation's expenses, much of that from foreign sources, according to the foundation's financial reports.

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Clinton and her daughter Chelsea at a Foundation event in 2015

The wider organization has been under scrutiny since Hillary Clinton was revealed to have met Foundation donors while she was serving as secretary of state.

She has hit back against accusations that wealthy donors to the institution - including foreigners and corporate leaders - might receive favorable treatment from the U.S. government in return for their money.

Still, her staff have said she recognizes reorganization would be necessary to avoid any appearance of conflicts of interests.

If Clinton is elected the project would no longer use the family name and would only go by its acronym, CHAI, Wednesday's announcement said.

The project has worked to lower the cost of HIV medicine in sub-Saharan Africa and help governments set up health coverage for their citizens.

Other long-time Clinton associates - Bruce Lindsey, Ira Magaziner and Maggie Williams - would also step down from the board, and the remaining board members would replace all five in consultation with global health experts, the charity said.

Bill Clinton has been hitting the campaign trail while Clinton recovers from pneumonia

Magaziner would remain in place as the project's chief executive, although the board would also draft a 'succession plan' by the end of the year.

'If Secretary Clinton is elected President, the changes outlined here will be implemented and CHAI would become an organization completely independent of the Clinton Foundation,' the institution said.

The announcement did not mention what would happen to Chelsea and Bill Clinton's board director positions at the helm of the wider Clinton Foundation.

Chelsea Clinton said last Friday that she would remain at the Foundation even if her mother was elected.

'For now, I'll certainly stay on the board,' she told ABC's The View.

Clinton Foundation President Donna Shalala told interviewers on Wednesday that it was Chelsea's decision, and called her 'an extraordinarily important leader on the board', Politico reported.

Shalala also said that it was not unusual for Clinton to have met influential people who were also Foundation donors while she was secretary of state.

She said Clinton's meetings with people including Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and Melinda Gates were 'courtesy appointments'.

'These are people any secretary of state would have seen...I don't see evidence that there was policy decisions made as a result of that other than courtesy appointments,' she said.

The Trump campaign fired back at Shalala's words.

'It speaks volumes that the Clinton Foundation's CEO would casually admit on national television that its donors received access and "courtesy appointments" at Hillary Clinton’s State Department,' Jason Miller, Trump's senior communications advisor, said in a statement.

'This is emblematic of the corrupt pay-to-play culture Hillary Clinton and those in her orbit bring to the table, where it so pervasive it is actually uncontroversial to those involved.