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No sector involved in HIV prevention - national governments, international donors, or global health agencies - received high marks for its work from a panel of 50 experts evaluating such efforts around the world. The findings were reported at the 18th International AIDS Conference in Vienna."Our overall finding is not that prevention is failing, but that we are failing prevention," said Dr. Helene Gayle, co-chair of the Global HIV Prevention Working Group and CEO of CARE USA.
Only half of countries have defined national targets for HIV prevention, and few prevention programs are adequately evaluated, according to a Working Group report card.
Prevention programs tailored to a country's unique needs exist only in 10 percent of nations, raising the risk of HIV transmission, the experts said.
They pointed out that in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, injection drug users and gay men are disproportionately affected by the epidemic but are the target of only 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively, of HIV prevention funding. The epidemic in these regions is spreading faster than anywhere in the world, the experts noted.
In parts of the world where the epidemic is more generalized, the report said HIV prevention efforts simply fall short. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, only 45 percent of HIV-positive pregnant women receive the antiretroviral therapy they need to prevent transmission of the virus to their babies.
Overall funding is inadequate to the needs of HIV prevention, the group said. The $2.9 billion spent on HIV prevention in 2009 was only 21 percent of total HIV funding, and one-third of what UNAIDS considers necessary, the Working Group said.
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.
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