Fully financing HIV response will save lives and produce social, economic and health gains

24 April 2023

Research and analysis by Economist Impact, conducted across 13 African countries, demonstrates that fully financing the HIV response will saves millions of lives and would produce substantial health, social and economic gains. Not only would there be between 40% and 90% fewer new HIV infections, depending on the country, but investing in the HIV epidemic would also enhance educational outcomes, especially for young women and girls, reduce gender inequalities and boost economic growth.UNAIDS estimates that low and middle-income countries will need investments of US$ 29 billion annually to meet targets of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Funding levels in 2020 fell almost 30% below targets, making subsequent resource needs harder to achieve and putting upcoming targets further out of reach. UNAIDS projects more than 7 million AIDS-related deaths by 2030, but half of those can be averted if the HIV response is fully financed and policies are rightly oriented. See report here: https://impact.economist.com/health/the-triple-dividend-of-hiv-financing/

"Let's tackle inequalities," says Winnie Byanyima on World AIDS Day 2021

26 November 2021

"We can end AIDS by 2030. Some countries are making remarkable progress, showing us what is possible. But globally, we are simply not bending the curves fast enough to stop the AIDS pandemic. The red light is flashing. Progress against AIDS, which was already off track, is now under even greater strain as the COVID-19 crisis continues to rage, disrupting HIV prevention and treatment services, schooling, violence-prevention programmes and more. And make no mistake: AIDS remains a pandemic. To stop it we urgently need a bolder view of pandemic response that is capable of tackling the inequalities prolonging the AIDS pandemic. Many of these missing pieces to fight HIV are also allowing the COVID-19 pandemic to continue and leaving us dangerously unprepared for pandemics of the future," says Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director.

Subscribe to Video