Despite gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS over the past decade, health advocates are using this week’s World AIDS Day events to call attention to cuts in funding for treatment and prevention that threaten to undermine progress.
A new report by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) shows new HIV infections are on the rise in some parts of the world, having doubled since 2001 in the strife-torn Middle East and North Africa and rising 13% since 2006 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. There are at least 35 million people living with HIV/AIDS, up 5 million from 2001 largely because of major donor nations financing improved treatment.
But funding for HIV prevention and treatment has been stagnant since 2008, according to the report. Total support to fight the disease came to only $18 billion or about $4 billion shy of projected needs for 2015. Looming cuts could worsen the situation.
“It’s coming at one of the most challenging times economically. It’s putting … progress at risk,” said Mitchell Warren, executive director for the AIDS Vaccination Advocacy Coalition.
The budget sequestration forced the U.S. to reduce total HIV funding to $6.5 billion in 2013, Warren said. Continuing sequestration would further reduce aid from the U.S., which is the world’s largest donor to the fund.
Follow Steven Ross Johnson on Twitter: @MHSjohnson
