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Note: This document is from the archive of the Africa Policy E-Journal, published
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Africa: Funds for Fighting AIDS, Updates
Africa: Funds for Fighting AIDS, Updates
Date distributed (ymd): 021014
Document reposted by Africa Action
Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List: an information
service provided by AFRICA ACTION (incorporating the Africa
Policy Information Center, The Africa Fund, and the American
Committee on Africa). Find more information for action for
Africa at http://www.africaaction.org
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Continent-Wide
Issue Areas: +economy/development+ +health+
SUMMARY CONTENTS:
This posting contains several short documents with information
concerning funds for fighting the AIDS pandemic. The documents are
from UNAIDS and the World Health Organization, from the Global Fund
to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, and from the Treatment Action
Campaign in South Africa. The documents are preceded by several
additional recent links on the same topic.
Recent news reports indicate some positive signs - the Global Fund
expects to release its first grant funds by the end of the year to
Tanzania, Ghana, Sri Lanka, and Haiti; the South African government
has issued a Cabinet statement affirming its intention to "make it
feasible and effective to use anti-retroviral in the public health
sector"; and Coca-Cola has responded to protests by announcing a
limited expansion of its treatment programs for workers. However,
the overall picture is that the funds actually being provided are
still only a trickle compared to what is needed.
Note that the UNAIDS press release below includes funding for
"three additional interventions (universal precautions to prevent
HIV transmission in health care settings, post-exposure
prophylaxis for health care workers, and safe needles for all
medical injections including immunization campaigns)." See
http://www.africafocus.org/docs02/hiv0210t.php> for additional
background on the importance of blocking HIV transmission through
unsafe health care.
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Selected New Links
Cash
Aidspan and Global AIDS Alliance, "Filling the Funding Gap to Save
Lives," October 9, 2002
http://www.aidspan.org/GlobalFund.htm and
http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/Fund_report.html
A new report by Aidspan and the Global AIDS Alliance calculates
"equitable contributions" to the Global Fund's own estimates of its
current requirements that each country should pay. The current U.S.
pledge of $200 million for 2003 is only 13% of its estimated fair
share of $1.5 billion. Congressional action now stalled would
increase this to either $250 million (House) or $300 million
(Senate). NOTE: this figure is calculated on the basis of the
Fund's current reduced estimates rather than independent estimates
of the total funds needed each year, which give a much larger fair
share of $3.5 billion
(see
http://www.africafocus.org/docs02/gf0204.php>).
Coca-Cola
Health Gap / ACT-UP, "AIDS Activists to Coke: Where's the Real
Thing," September 27, 2002
http://www.treat-your-workers.org
http://www2.coca-cola.com/presscenter/nr_20020926_sabaco_statement.html
Coca-Cola has announced the extension of anti-retroviral treatment
ot a larger percentage of its African workforce, but activists
planning demonstrations on October 17 say the plan still falls far
short.
Condoms
Population Action International, "Condoms Count: U.S. Falls Short,
Wealthy Countries Fail to Meet Need," September 29, 2002
http://www.populationaction.org/news/press/news_092902_condomscount.htm
Despite all the talk about prevention, condom supplies from
international donors dropped from 970 million in 1990 to 950
million in 2000; the U.S. contribution dropped by roughly half.
Press Release
UNAIDS/WHO
http://www.unaids.org
For more information, please contact Anne Winter, UNAIDS, Geneva,
(+41 22) 791 4577, Dominique de Santis, UNAIDS, Geneva, (+41 22)
791 4509, Andrew Shih, UNAIDS, New York, (+ 1 212) 584 5024, or Jon
Liden, WHO, Geneva (+41 79) 244 6006.
Geneva, 10 October 2002
New figures show AIDS fight under-resourced
Existing funds insufficient to keep pace
Geneva, 10 October 2002 - On the eve of the Board meeting of the
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, the Joint United Nations
Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization
(WHO) released updated figures on the cost of mounting the global
response to HIV/AIDS.
Revised estimates to 2005 for prevention, care and support
programmes in low- and middle-income countries indicate that US$
10.5 billion will be needed by 2005. These take into account both
declines in the price of anti-retroviral drugs and the inclusion
of three additional interventions (universal precautions to
prevent HIV transmission in health care settings, post-exposure
prophylaxis for health care workers, and safe needles for all
medical injections including immunization campaigns), to the 22
included in the original estimates.
The estimates, prepared by a working group of the UNAIDS Economics
Reference Group, reflect a revision of earlier figures published in
Science magazine in June 2001.
The revised estimates reinforce the call by the Secretary-General
of the United Nations to rapidly scale up spending on AIDS to some
US$10 billion a year on AIDS by 2005.
The new estimates also project that financial resource needs will
continue to increase significantly and that by 2007 some US$ 15
billion a year will be required to successfully combat AIDS. The
updated estimates are comparable to what the Commission on
Macroeconomics and Health (CMH) identified would be needed by 2007
for HIV/AIDS specific resources to fight the epidemic.
The CMH also estimated that beyond the resources required to
support the HIV/AIDS specific interventions, additional resources
will be required for health sector infrastructure development in
the poorest countries. The UNAIDS Economics Reference Group
estimates do not include costs for increasing physical
infrastructure, but rather are based on increasing coverage of HIV
interventions within existing infrastructure capacities.
According to UNAIDS and WHO, substantial increases in expenditures
from all quarters - governments, bilateral and multilateral
agencies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector -
will be urgently required to keep pace with the epidemic's rapid
expansion, financial need and programme capacity.
The latest UNAIDS estimates also indicate that to meet the US $6.5
billion in urgent needs identified to fight the epidemic in 2003,
funding from all sources will have to double from 2002 levels. For
2002, UNAIDS projects that spending will approach or exceed $3
billion.
At its Board meeting, which begins in Geneva today, the Global Fund
is expected to discuss its fundraising targets for 2003-2007.
Press Release
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria
http://www.globalfundatm.org
11 October 2002, 18:00 GMT
$2 BILLION NEEDED NEXT YEAR TO FUND AIDS, TB AND MALARIA PROGRAMS
Programs Are Currently Poised to Scale Up the Fight Against the
Epidemics, According to Assessment Commissioned by the Global Fund
Donors will need to double their contributions to the Global Fund
to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria next year in order to meet the
anticipated increase of quality health programs offering effective
responses to the epidemics, according to financial projections
released by the organization today.
To date, $2.1 billion has been pledged to the Global Fund over the
next five years. In 2003, the Global Fund's needs will grow an
additional $2 billion to finance the increasing number of worthy
proposals. In 2004, $4.6 billion more will be required. These
forecasts are based on the growing capacity of countries to absorb
these resources and expand effective programs, and evidence of a
sharp increase in both quantity and quality of grant proposals.
"The current situation requires a substantial front-loaded capital
investment to scale up existing efforts," said Prof. Richard
Feachem, executive director of the Global Fund, who called for the
additional $2 billion in 2003. "The programs are ready. Any delay
now will be measured by millions of lives lost and billions of
dollars of additional cost to later respond to the expanded
epidemics."
A study published this summer in The Lancet suggests that
two-thirds of new HIV infections expected by 2010 could be
prevented with an immediately expanded response of prevention
interventions. The U.S. National Intelligence Council reported last
week that, without a massive global response, HIV prevalence in
China, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria and Russia could be up to three
times higher than estimates released earlier this year, leading to
a global burden that could surpass 100 million cases.
"The impact and pace of AIDS, TB and malaria cannot be
overestimated," said Dr. Chrispus Kiyonga, chair of the Global Fund
board. "The epidemics will cost us nearly 6 million lives this year
and nearly $120 billion in lost productive years of life."
In April 2001, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan proposed
the creation of a global "war chest" to fight AIDS, TB and malaria,
and called on donors to provide at least $10 billion additional
funds annually to fight these three big diseases of poverty. Later
that year, the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health confirmed
that at least $10 billion annually in additional donor funds would
be required to fight the three diseases.
$2.1 billion was quickly pledged to the Global Fund, with the
United States providing the largest government contribution with a
sum of $500 million, followed by the United Kingdom and Italy. The
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been the leading
philanthropic donor with a commitment of $100 million, and
Winterthur Insurance/Credit Suisse and ENI are currently the
largest corporate donors with pledges of $1 million and $.5 million
respectively.
In January 2002, the Global Fund became operational. Within three
months the board committed $616 million of funding to 40 countries
over two years, with further commitment pending program performance
and fund availability.
As of 10 October, $483 million of the pledged $2.1 billion had been
transferred into the Global Fund's account. Of the 31 countries
that have pledged support to the Global Fund, only Ireland had made
a complete payment. Seven other countries had made partial
payments.
A second round of proposals is currently underway. Today, the
Global Fund disclosed that approximately $5.2 billion is being
requested of the Global Fund from second round proposals that have
meet initial eligibility criteria. A decision on which of these
proposals should be awarded funding is scheduled for January 2003.
"If we go about business as usual, we will fail," said Feachem.
"The Global Fund was created to help take the world's response to
a higher financial and operational level. The three epidemics can
be driven back where there is top-level political commitment, where
the public sector and private sectors work together, and where
there is accountability for achieving results."
At the conclusion of the Global Fund's third board meeting today in
Geneva, the board agreed to make resource mobilization a main focus
of its next meeting in January 2003.
# # #
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is an independent,
public-private partnership established in 2002 that is working to
attract significant new resources to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria, and then to innovatively manage and disburse these funds
to effective prevention and treatment programs in countries with
greatest need.
General background information on the Global Fund can be found at
http://www.globalfundatm.org
For additional information, please contact the Global Fund to Fight
AIDS, TB and Malaria at + 41 22 747 7780. For region-specific
information, contact:
Asia Bobby John +91-98-22063119
Africa Junaid Seedat + 27-82-435-1321
Latin America Jove Oliver + 46-73-334-4702
North America Jim Palmer + 1-202-262-9823
Europe Mariangela Bavicchi + 41-79-202-0261
Francophone countries Patrick Bertrand + 33-6-60040442
United Kingdom Louis Da Gama + 44-208-357-7413
Press Release
Treatment Action Campaign
http://www.tac.org.za
Save 3 Million Lives And Prevent 2.5 Million Infections!
Research Shows Need For A Comprehensive Treatment And Prevention Plan
September 26, 2002
[A fact sheet with more details, in pdf format, is available at:
http://www.tac.org.za/CostsAndBenefitsOfTreatmentAndPrevention.pdf]
Urgent action by Government can save 3 million lives of people
living with HIV/AIDS by 2015, reduce the number of orphans and
prevent new infections. New research demonstrates the enormous
social and economic costs our country will face if government does
not lead civil society and the private sector in the use of
antiretroviral therapy. The Treatment Action Campaign's (TAC) call
for a national treatment plan by government with clear budgets and
time-frames is the only chance this government has to avoid a
social catastrophe.
Research conducted by the UCT Centre for Actuarial Research (CARE)
demonstrates that a comprehensive treatment and prevention plan
that incorporates antiretroviral therapy will prevent millions of
AIDS deaths and new HIV infections. By implementing voluntary
counselling and testing, mother-to-child transmission prevention,
improved management of sexually transmitted infections and highly
active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), nearly 3 million AIDS deaths
can be averted and over 2.5 million HIV infections can be prevented
by 2015. Furthermore a treatment programme that includes HAART can
prevent approximately a million double-orphans (children under the
age of 18 both of whose parents have died).
The TAC has used the results of the CARE research to estimate costs
of implementing these programmes. The cost of HAART for adults
gradually increases from R224 million in 2002 to R6.8 billion in
2007 to a peak of R18.1 billion in 2015. These amounts include
personnel and monitoring costs and assume that generic medicines
that have been proven equivalent to patented brand-name drugs are
available for use. With a realistic price reduction in
antiretroviral medicines to R300 per month for a first-line regimen
and R450 per month for a second-line regimen, the cost of Adult
HAART can be reduced to R14.1 billion in 2015. Adult HAART is the
most expensive of the health interventions that CARE has modelled
but has the most significant effect on life-expectancy and AIDS
deaths.
Central to our work is the right to life and dignity of all people.
But, a clear human rights approach is not the only gain for
society. Treatment will not only save lives, it will reduce
hospitalisation costs to the public health sector and the cost of
orphan grants and caring for orphans. Furthermore, through
treatment we can avoid: the collapse of the public health system;
loss of human capital (e.g. teachers, nurses, students); and
immense social dysfunction. In addition, the economy will benefit
from investment in health-care, stability in productivity and
retention of skills.
While modelling the future is not an exact science, this is the
most comprehensively researched work of this kind that has yet been
done with regard to the South African HIV epidemic. It is therefore
the best information available and there is an imperative to act
upon it, given the challenges the HIV epidemic poses for South
Africa's development. Government must now meet its Constitutional
duty to ensure the rights to life, dignity and health-care. It must
develop and implement a plan which at a minimum incorporates
voluntary counselling and testing, mother-to-child transmission
prevention of HIV, improved management of sexually transmitted
infections and highly active antiretroviral therapy. By working
together all sectors of South African society can alleviate the
worst effects of the HIV epidemic. We must act now!
(The CARE research was commissioned by the TAC. We wish to thank
Leigh Johnson, Professor Rob Dorrington, the Centre for Actuarial
Research, Alex Van Den Heever, Chris Raubenheimer and all the
health care professionals and researchers who provided information
for this work. This research will be submitted to NEDLAC, the
Health Ministry, SANAC and provincial health departments.)
The full CARE report is available from
http://www.commerce.uct.ac.za/care
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by
Africa Action (incorporating the Africa Policy Information
Center, The Africa Fund, and the American Committee on Africa).
Africa Action's information services provide accessible
information and analysis in order to promote U.S. and
international policies toward Africa that advance economic,
political and social justice and the full spectrum of human rights.
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