ShareHIV/AIDS: Policy solutions
“It’s mass murder by complacency”, Stephen Louis, UN special envoy for AIDS in Africa. In the 2003 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush called for an emergency response to AIDS. While the $15 billion in funding that he proposed over a five-year period is significant, it appears that the government will actually spend much less on global AIDS issues.. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, started by the United Nations, is one of the most efficient ways of quickly getting help to people with AIDS in Africa and elsewhere. Grants by the Global Fund are putting half a million people on life-saving anti-retroviral drugs and supporting a six-fold increase in the number of people in Africa receiving these drugs. Supporting the Global Fund is the best way to leverage Europe and other nations to do their fair share to fight AIDS. The Fund has strong safeguards to ensure funds are used appropriately. But the Fund is running out of money to resource new programs and to sustain ones previously funded. Of the money being spent on AIDS by the U.S., only a small portion is distributed to the Global Fund. The AIDS pandemic and its related causes in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and elsewhere threaten to destabilize nations. Taking immediate action to ensure adequate resources to combat AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria is one of the best ways the U.S. can lead by example. Funding needs to be provided to programs that are based on balanced, comprehensive, and scientifically-based approaches to AIDS prevention and that fully respond to the needs of women and girls. Further, civil society must be included at every step of the planning and implementation processes in all national and global health initiatives. |
RSS feed