On Monday, the head of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria said the organization is nearly $10 billion shy of its funding goals. "The estimated gap, again, this year is around $7 billion to $8 billion. It is going to increase to $10 billion to $12 billion in the next two to three years," Michel Kazatchkine told a press briefing.
The fund is helping finance antiretrovirals (ARVs) for 1.75 million people in low- and middle-income countries, said Kazatchkine. That represents almost 60 percent of the 3 million people with HIV/AIDS in those countries receiving ARVs, according to recently released data from the World Health Organization. However, UNAIDS estimates that only about 30 percent of those who need ARVs in the developing world are receiving the treatment.
"We are hopeful that these gaps are narrowing. but let's be very careful, because 2008. is a time when some people say you are doing alright with the AIDS epidemic, now we have to focus on something else. We need a very sustained effort and we still need increased resources," said Kazatchkine.
The Global Fund received pledges of almost $10 billion over three years in September 2007, allowing it to move toward a plan to disburse $6 billion to $8 billion annually from 2008 to 2010. Since 2002, the fund has received $20 billion in pledges and donations.
06/09/08
Funding Gap for AIDS Help Persists: Global Fund
Source: Reuters:: Daniel Bases; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention