Resources and funding

U.S. continues to account for more than half of all donor government investments

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 18, 2012— Donor nation funding in 2011 for HIV in low- and middle-income countries returned to prior levels after a drop in 2010, but has been roughly flat since the recession hit world economies in 2008, according to an annual funding analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).

The study found that donor governments disbursed US$ 7.6 billion in 2011 for the AIDS response in low- and middle-income countries. Overall donor government support for AIDS has been flat since 2008, which marked the end of rapid increases in donor disbursements of more than six-fold over the 2002 to 2008 period.

“International investments still account for two thirds of funding for HIV in Africa, the continent most affected by the epidemic,” said Paul De Lay, Deputy Executive Director, Programme at UNAIDS. “Although more and more countries are increasing domestic investments for HIV, investments from donor governments remain an essential resource.”

“The benefits of early detection and treatment have never been more clear, but countries have never been more challenged to provide needed resources. This is a critical time to keep the focus on the HIV epidemic,” said Drew Altman, Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO.

The two largest donor governments – the United States and United Kingdom – reported funding increases. The United States, the largest donor nation, reported a US$785 million increase in disbursements over 2010, but only returned to 2009 levels after reporting a delay in disbursements as the reason for last year’s decline. Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway and Sweden maintained or slightly increased their support, while Ireland, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands decreased funding.  

In 2011, the United States accounted for more than half (59.2%) of total donor government disbursements, followed by the United Kingdom (12.8%), France (5.4%), the Netherlands (4.2%), Germany (4.0%) and Denmark (2.5%).

When considering what constitutes a donor’s “fair share” – which this report assesses by looking at donor resources standardized by the size of government economies – Denmark provided the highest amount of resources for AIDS in 2011, followed by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland and Sweden. The United States was sixth.

According to the latest estimates from UNAIDS, 34.2 (31.8 million to 35.9 million) people were living with HIV at the end of 2011. Nearly 35 million have died from AIDS-related causes since AIDS was first reported 31 years ago.

The new report provides that latest data available on donor funding based on data provided by governments, and were collected and analyzed by researchers as part of a collaborative effort between the Kaiser Family Foundation and UNAIDS.

The full analysis is available online at http://www.kff.org/hivaids/7347.cfm.

UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners to maximize results for the AIDS response. Learn more at unaids.org and connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Kaiser Family Foundation
The Kaiser Family Foundation, a leader in health policy analysis, health journalism and communication, is dedicated to filling the need for trusted, independent information on the major health issues of the day. The Foundation is a non-profit private operating foundation, based in Menlo Park, CA with an office and conference center in Washington, D.C.

GENEVA, 9 May 2012—The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) welcomes today’s announcement by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria that an additional US$ 1.6 billion will be available for new commitments over the next three years.

“This ushers in a new era for the Global Fund and I am pleased to see that it is opening the door to new partnerships,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “The Global Fund must keep firmly focused on country successes and continue to leverage resources to ensure that countries can reach their goals and that more lives are saved.”

Resources available for HIV from international sources have been declining in recent years, hampering countries’ efforts to scale-up programmes. Many countries responded to the shortfall with an increase in domestic spending for HIV. The volatility of resource availability has slowed the provision of HIV prevention and treatment services.

The renewed focus on shared responsibility of donors and governments provides an opportunity to build new partnership frameworks which allow countries and communities to take the lead in determining their priorities to meet the 2015 targets as outlined in the 2011 UN Political Declaration on AIDS.

The Global Fund in its reform process must continue to put countries first. UNAIDS urges the Global Fund to make the additional resources available to countries as quickly as possible. UNAIDS will continue to work closely with the Global Fund, countries and communities to ensure the resources are invested transparently in effective and evidence informed programmes to achieve the best results for people.

As new resources for the AIDS response are declining, the support of the Gates Foundation will help restore confidence in meeting global AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria targets

GENEVA, 26 January 2012—UNAIDS welcomes the grant of US$ 750 million by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

“At this crucial time, when lives are being lost for lack of resources to provide treatment to people living with HIV, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has restored hope to people living with and at risk of HIV,” said Michel Sidibé, UNAIDS Executive Director. “This financial pledge—together with the Foundation’s unwavering commitment to innovation, research and HIV prevention—will make a difference today and tomorrow.”

World leaders agreed to pledge between US$ 22-24 billion each year by 2015 at the United Nations High Level meeting on AIDS in June 2011. However the resources available today are far less than the total need. In 2010 US$ 15.3 billion was available for the AIDS response in low- and middle-income countries.

The majority of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa—the region most affected by AIDS—depend on international aid to provide antiretroviral treatment for people living with HIV. Countries faced a major setback with the recent cancellation of Round 11 grants by the Global Fund. The immediate injection of new resources will help countries ensure that there no interruptions to on-going programmes as they continue to scale up lifesaving programmes.

A fully-funded Global Fund is essential to help countries reach their AIDS response targets by 2015

Geneva, 24 January 2012—In the ten years since the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund) was established, the organization has made a profound difference in saving millions of lives around the world. It has created momentum and helped countries achieve results.

• In the past decade, the Global Fund has approved more than US$ 22.6 billion in grants to 150 countries. 
• Global Fund grants are helping countries provide 3.3 million people access to HIV treatment.
• The Global Fund has ensured that more than one million pregnant women living with HIV have had access to antiretroviral drugs to prevent the transmission of HIV to their children.

UNAIDS is confident, that in the Global Fund’s transition phase, its transformation plan will help deliver further results. UNAIDS will continue to work in partnership with countries and with the Global Fund to reduce risks and ensure high-impact programmes continue on the ground.  

The remarkable progress achieved in the AIDS response must be sustained and accelerated. UNAIDS urges the international community to urgently explore innovative sources of funding to bridge the gap in global resources for AIDS. It also calls on countries to revise and reprioritize AIDS investments as well as national AIDS strategies.

In 2011, UN member states pledged to invest between US$ 22-24 billion per year by 2015 for the global AIDS response. Last year, US$ 15 billion was available, however international funding has fallen from US$ 8.7 billion in 2009 to US$ 7.6 billion in 2010.

GENEVA, 1 December 2011—The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) congratulates President Barack Obama on his bold commitment to provide AIDS treatment to 6 million people by 2013 and reach 1.5 million pregnant women living with HIV to protect their children from becoming infected with HIV. This reinforces the collaboration between UNAIDS and the United States on the global plan towards elimination of new HIV infections among children by 2015—the foundation for an AIDS free generation.

“The commitments made by President Obama today will save lives and help move us towards an AIDS free generation,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Getting to zero and ending AIDS is a shared responsibility.”

UNAIDS also welcomes the United States’ strong bipartisan commitment to the global AIDS response. This unprecedented solidarity has made the United States the largest global AIDS donor, providing more than half (54.2%) of all international AIDS assistance available to low- and middle-income countries in 2010. The PEPFAR programme, initiated under the leadership of President George W. Bush and expanded by President Obama, currently provides lifesaving HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services to millions of people, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the region most affected by the epidemic.

World leaders have pledged to invest between US$ 22-24 billion by 2015 for the AIDS response. In recent years, international assistance has begun to decline, jeopardizing the ability of countries to sustain and scale up access to prevention and treatment services. UNAIDS urges members of the G8 and G20 to expand their investments in AIDS—domestic and international. It also calls on all developing countries to increase their funding for their national AIDS programmes.

President Obama’s call to step up HIV prevention efforts using high-impact combination tools, such as treatment as prevention, male circumcision, antiretrovirals to stop new HIV infections among children and consistent condom use, has the potential to avert millions of new HIV infections. This approach, endorsed by UNAIDS, uses the best of new science and will save both money and lives.

Countries, donors, and other partners must mobilize around new UNAIDS strategic investment framework—to generate new resources and optimize AIDS-related investments

GENEVA, 27 November 2011—The unprecedented results and progress achieved by the global AIDS response in 2011 must be sustained and accelerated. Latest data from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) shows that new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths have fallen to the lowest levels and more than 6.6 million people now have access to HIV treatment. Greater investments in tuberculosis and malaria programmes have also led to reductions in tuberculosis and malaria-related deaths among people living with HIV.

These gains are threatened by a decline in resources available for HIV prevention and treatment in low- and middle-income countries. And now could be further aggravated by the recently revised resource forecast—showing a shortfall in funding available through the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund).

The Global Fund has announced plans to replace its next call for country proposals (Round 11) with a new transitional funding mechanism. The new mechanism will focus on the continuation of essential prevention, treatment and care services currently financed by the Global Fund—making new funding available only in 2014. This announcement could jeopardize global efforts to achieve Millennium Development Goal 6—to halt and reverse the spread of AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by 2015.

"This delay could keep countries from their efforts to save lives at a time when the AIDS response has seen game-changing results," said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. "The Global Fund's new five-year strategy as well as its consolidated transformation plan are steps in the right direction. These plans should restore confidence and position the Global Fund as an important and effective financing mechanism for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria."

UNAIDS urges the international community to urgently explore innovative sources of funding to bridge the gap in global resources for AIDS, including a financial transaction tax to fund critical health and development programmes. It also calls on countries to revise and reprioritize AIDS investments as well as national AIDS strategies using the new UNAIDS strategic investment framework to deliver maximum results and value for money.

"We need new financial modalities and sources of funding such as the financial transaction tax to maintain the momentum of the AIDS response," said Mr Sidibé. "Using the advances in science, we can help countries to use the new investment framework to optimize results for people and save lives."

In response to the financial challenges and opportunities facing countries, UNAIDS is committed to working together with countries; regional bodies including the African Union, African Development Bank and NEPAD; donors such as PEPFAR, DFID and Government of France; civil society organizations and the Global Fund to achieve the bold new targets set by world leaders in the 2011 United Nations Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.

UN member states have pledged to invest between US$ 22-24 billion by 2015 for the global AIDS response. Last year, US$ 15 billion was available, however international funding has fallen from US$ 8.7 billion in 2009 to US$ 7.6 billion in 2010.