Increase mainly due to U.K. however, funding from half of fourteen donor governments declined

As world leaders meet to discuss global financing for development, a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) finds that although there was a slight increase in funding to respond to HIV in low- and middle-income countries in 2014, seven of 14 donor governments actually decreased funding, two remained flat and funding from five governments increased.

Overall donor government funding for the AIDS response increased slightly, by less than 2 percent in 2014 to US$8.6 billion. After adjusting for inflation and exchange rates, the 2014 increase was 1%.

Still, 2014 funding levels are the highest to date. Funding began to rise again recently following a dip after the global economic crisis.

Most of the increase in HIV funding in 2014 can be attributed to the United Kingdom, without which overall funding would have dropped. In addition, contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an increasing channel of HIV support for some donors over time, went up overall, while bilateral funding went down.

"International assistance for AIDS has been instrumental in expanding access to HIV treatment and in funding HIV prevention programmes for people most affected by HIV,” said Luiz Loures, Deputy Executive Director of UNAIDS. "The donor community must now build on current funding levels to help close the resource gap to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030."

"Funding for HIV continued to be a priority for donor governments in 2014, but how funding for HIV will fare in the post-2015 era, with its much more crowded development agenda and competing demands on donors remains to be seen," said Kaiser Family Foundation Vice President Jen Kates, Director of Global Health and HIV Policy.

The U.S. government remained the largest donor government to HIV in the world but funding remained essentially flat, totaling US$5.6 billion in 2014, as it did in 2013. The next largest funder was the U.K., at US$1.1 billion.

In addition to the U.K. increase, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, and Norway also increased total assistance for HIV in 2014, while Germany and the U.S. remained essentially flat. Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Ireland, Sweden, and the European Commission decreased assistance for HIV in 2014.

The U.S. accounted for nearly two-thirds (64.5%) of total funding (bilateral and multilateral) from donor governments, followed by the U.K. (12.9%), France (3.7%), Germany (3.2%), and the Netherlands (2.5%).

The new report, produced as a partnership between the Kaiser Family Foundation and UNAIDS, provides the latest data available on donor funding disbursements based on data provided by governments. It includes their bilateral assistance to low- and middle-income countries and contributions to the Global Fund as well as UNITAID.

The full analysis is available online.

Kaiser Family Foundation

Filling the need for trusted information on national health issues, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Menlo Park, California.

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 towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

UNAIDS opens first exhibition on new digital gallery as UNAIDS launches its new book, How AIDS changed everything—MDG 6: 15 years, 15 lessons of hope from the AIDS response.

GENEVA, 14 July 2015—UNAIDS launched today the White Table Gallery, a new digital platform that will host exhibitions relating to the AIDS response. The first exhibition, entitled Everyday Objects and a Cat, shows how “things” can hold special meanings in the AIDS response and represent bigger ideas around health and development.

The new gallery is an extension of the new UNAIDS book, How AIDS changed everything—MDG 6: 15 years, 15 lessons of hope from the AIDS response. The book includes lessons learned from reaching the AIDS targets of Millennium Development Goal 6 that can inform and transform the work towards achieving the sustainable development goals.

“Innovation and inspiration have been key to the success of the AIDS response. By continually pushing ourselves to ask “what’s new and what’s next” we have remained at the cutting edge of global health,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Platforms like the White Table Gallery will enable us to engage with new creative partners.”

As in every exhibition, individual pieces tell their own story, but also contribute to explain and give meaning to the bigger picture of which they form a part. The White Table Gallery intends to explain the AIDS epidemic using digital media in order to raise awareness and engage young people. The digital platform uses photos, videos, images and audio files to capture stories and moments in time. Everyday Objects and a Cat will run through to October 2015.

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 towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

GENEVA, 6 November 2014—UNAIDS welcomes Namibia’s Supreme Court decision to uphold the Namibian High Court finding that three women living with HIV were subjected to coercive sterilization in public hospitals without their informed consent.

“This is a great victory for all women in Namibia and the world. This decision reinforces the right to sexual and reproductive health for all women, irrespective of their HIV status,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibé.

The Supreme Court’s dismissal of the appeal follows the 30 July 2012 ruling of the High Court of Namibia—in the first formal court case of its kind in Africa—that medical practitioners have a “legal duty to obtain informed consent from a patient” and that the health service provider could not forcibly obtain consent during labour.  

UNAIDS worked closely with civil society and other key partners in the AIDS response in Namibia to ensure that the voices of the women affected were heard. UNAIDS calls on countries to investigate and address all reported cases of forced sterilization as well as other legal and social practices violating the basic rights of all people in health-care systems.

Women and girls, irrespective of their HIV status, should have access to information and be empowered to exercise their sexual and reproductive health rights. UNAIDS will continue to mobilize governments and communities to ensure that everyone has access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services. 

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 towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.