As the Need Grows, HIV/AIDS Money Runs Far Short

The global gap between the needs of HIV/AIDS patients and the resources committed to help them is enormous - and it continues to grow. Nothing close to UNAIDS' recent estimate of the $27 billion needed this year has been secured. Including middle-income countries' health budget allocations, total AIDS commitments globally are an estimated $14 billion.

While Congress has authorized $48 billion for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), its annual budget of approximately $7 billion was last increased by 2 percent. A foundation of the Obama administration's Global Health Initiative is the belief that more lives can be saved by focusing on child-killing diseases and maternal health.

Some critics say that many of the children saved may have their lives cut short by AIDS later, but that battle appears to have been lost. The administration's 2011 budget proposes a $50 million cut to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria - the other major source of financial support for the global AIDS fight. The US pledges to pay one-third of fund's budget, matching other countries' donations at 50 cents on the dollar. But other nations have given so little that the US Treasury has consistently paid out less than Congress authorized. Last year, the Global Fund had to cut grants by an average 12 percent.

The Global Fund's "middle scenario" would raise enough money to put 6 million people with AIDS on treatment. Thus, the Global Fund and PEPFAR jointly would have 10 million patients on antiretroviral drugs by 2014. By then, however, 17 million will desperately need treatment. At least 36 million will be infected.

Other donors are small in comparison. One of the largest among them, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has donated about $650 million to the Global Fund over the years. The foundation focuses on medical research, not treatment. Software magnate and billionaire Bill Gates has said that trying to buy AIDS drugs for the world would rapidly deplete even his great wealth.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


Together We Remain Strong!