Health Experts Express Concern About U.S. Funding For International AIDS Treatment

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Also Included In: Aid / Disasters
Article Date: 30 Jul 2010 - 3:00 PDT

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Health experts at last week's International AIDS Conference in Vienna expressed anger and concern about future U.S. funding for HIV treatment in developing nations and the knowledge that due to funding constraints, some African nations already are turning away patients who need treatment, the Washington Post reports. According to the Post, current funding levels barely cover the 5.2 million people in developing nations who already are receiving treatment and leave little left over for an additional five million people who still need treatment.

The U.S. has been "by far" the largest donor to support HIV/AIDS treatment for low-income people around the world, providing 58% of the $7.6 billion given by governments last year. However, activists are concerned that funding increases may not continue, noting that international AIDS assistance was the same in 2008 and 2009 and is not expected to rise significantly, if at all, in 2010.

Paul Zeitz, director of the Global AIDS Alliance, said, "The paradox is that the United States government and other funding partners have decided to either flat-line or reduce their spending just when funding should be ramped up so we could actually win the battle."

Some activists have said that President Obama's Global Health Initiative fails to follow through on promises for large annual increases in HIV/AIDS funding. While Obama's GHI is larger than President Bush's multibillion dollar program to fight global HIV/AIDS known as PEPFAR, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, GHI spreads its funding across more agencies and addresses other health problems, including malaria and maternal and child health.

In a post on the White House blog last week, Gayle Smith, White House special assistant for development and democracy, said, "What it takes to save lives of those with HIV and those most at risk to contract it is a comprehensive approach that recognizes the roles of other diseases" (Brown, Washington Post, 7/29).

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