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Click here for recent action alerts, news, and reports related to mobilizing the financial resources needed to fight global AIDS effectively.

Did you know?

In recent years the US government and others have grabbed the headlines with announcements of major increases in funding for global HIV/AIDS programs.  Some of these increases are real, but the fact is that financing for programs that can truly use money effectively is still so low that it is the HIV virus that is winning this fight, not us.

The world’s top experts on health program financing gather on a regular basis to refine and then publish an estimate of what is needed for a basic response to the AIDS crisis globally.  Their latest estimate is that US$18 billion is needed in 2007 and US$ 22 billion in 2008.  This estimate is based on what is needed to provide a basic level of services in the areas of HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care, and support for orphans and vulnerable children.  The largest portion of this, about 50% of the funding in 2008, would go towards HIV/AIDS prevention.

Countries need help to ensure all this money can be effectively used and not just sit in a bank account.  That's why this estimate also includes what countries need to improve health systems. This includes improved management of AIDS programs, building of new hospitals and clinics, and training and recruitment of new doctors and nurses.

To fully finance HIV prevention, new resources are needed to achieve universal basic education—a key component of HIV prevention; mobilize a truly effective response to violence against women and children—an important driver and consequence of the epidemic; and go even further to facilitate health system strengthening.  Because tuberculosis (TB) kills as many as half of all people of people living with HIV/AIDS, the response to TB, including drug-resistant TB, must also be fully funded.

The world right now is providing about $6 billion annually to fight AIDS, and a major chunk of that—about one-third—is contributed by affected countries themselves.  But, this sum is still only half of what is needed to deliver a basic services and improve health systems, and that’s a major reason why we are not getting ahead of the HIV/AIDS crisis.  It’s also a major reason why we are not on course to meet basic deadlines the world has set:

• Universal access to all AIDS-related services by 2010, including prevention, treatment, and care, as well as support for orphans and vulnerable children.
• Stopping and reversing the AIDS crisis by 2015.

What needs to be done?

International assistance from donor governments, through bilateral aid and contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, as well as other financing channels, must be rapidly increased.  Domestic spending by many affected-country governments to combat their epidemics, as well as spending by households and individuals within these countries, also must be increased.

The best way to channel funds is in a way that challenges all donors to contribute their fair share.  The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria works that way, because all donors put their money in a central pot, and governments are expeced to contribute based on their ability to give.  So far, for every dollar contributed by the United States, two dollars have been contributed by other countries—significantly multiplying the impact of US contributions.  Unfortunately, the US is not on course to provide what the Global Fund has requested for 2008.  At the G8 Summit in Germany in June 2007, the leaders of the world's wealthiest nations agreed that the Global Fund's grant-making should be expanded about six-fold by 2010, but the necessary funding has not yet materialized.

Innovative financing mechanisms are another way to to generate significant new resources for HIV/AIDS and other global development needs.  These mechanisms include the UK-proposed International Finance Facility, the airline ticket tax now in place in a number of countries, and the Global Fund’s Debt2Health initiative to convert foreign debt into new resources for health programs.  Click here to learn more about GAA's work on the Debt2Health initiative.

What is the Global AIDS Alliance doing?

The Global AIDS Alliance is committed to mobilizing the financial resources needed to mount a comprehensive, long-term response to the global AIDS epidemic.  In particular, we are working to achieve the following goals:

• Secure increased US investments in global AIDS programs, with the goal of ensuring that the US government contributes at least one-third of the global resource needs to scale up an effective response to HIV in low- and middle-income countries;
• Persuade U.S. and other G8 leaders to increase their contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, which remains the most promising vehicle for scaling up HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care programs in poor countries hardest hit by the epidemic;
• Ensure that the US and other wealthy governments commit the funding needed to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention by 2010;
• Promote innovative financing mechanisms that could generate significant new resources to tackle HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.

GAA combines media outreach and public education with targeted coalition-building and grassroots mobilization in order to raise awareness and inspire activism in support of these ongoing advocacy efforts.

Where can I learn more?

At the bottom of this page, you will find a selection of recent materials related to funding the fight against AIDS, including action alerts, news, and reports.  In addition, GAA is working with a broad array of advocacy partners to help mobilize the financial resources needed to mount a comprehensive response to the pandemic.  Many of these groups offer additional information about the cost of fighting AIDS effectively, including the following:

ActionAid International
Friends of the Global Fight
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria
Health GAP
Student Global AIDS Campaign
RESULTS
Stop AIDS Campaign (UK)
World AIDS Campaign

Click here for a full list of GAA’s advocacy partners.

We have the opportunity to change this.