HIV and AIDS spending in 2015 lowest in 5 years

The global development community has made great strides in developing effective and affordable treatment for HIV/AIDS. Over 18 million people, or about half of the 36 million individuals living with HIV worldwide, are now accessing antiretroviral therapy. Sustained antiretroviral therapy and treatment enables people living with HIV to live longer and healthier lives. Achieving that milestone would not have been possible without significant pledges from international donors. According to UNAIDS estimates, $26.2 billion is needed by 2020 to meet global HIV targets and end AIDS as a global public health threat by 2030. While combatting HIV/AIDS remains a high priority of international donors, donor funding fell for the first time in five years in 2015, dropping by 8 percent from 2014. According to a joint report from UNAIDS and the Kaiser Family Foundation, the decline can be traced to overall foreign aid budget cuts. Contributions decreased for 13 out of 14 donor governments. The European Commission was the only donor that did not decrease spending. The report provides the latest available data on donor funding disbursements to HIV/AIDS, including bilateral assistance to low- and middle-income countries and contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as UNITAID, an HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria drug purchase facility supported by member-levied airline taxes. The decrease in donor government funding to support HIV efforts can be partially explained by the significant appreciation of the U.S. dollar that resulted in the depreciation of most other donor currencies. But it also stems from competing funding demands, including humanitarian emergencies and the refugee crisis. The confluence of factors have resulted in a five-year record low, with 2015 spending behind 2011 total spending by more than $95 million. Total funding from the U.S. government, the single biggest bilateral donor to HIV/AIDS, dropped from $5.6 billion to $5 billion, mostly because the U.S. shifted bilateral funds to 2016 while it implements new programs and expands existing ones. The Obama administration has pledged more than $4 billion to The Global Fund through 2019. The majority of international assistance for HIV has historically been provided by the same subset of donors. At $980 million in 2015, the U.K. is the second largest donor overall, as well as the largest European donor to the Global Fund. France provided 3.7 percent of total funding, and is the largest donor to UNITAID, which relies on co-founder France for 60 percent of its budget. Rounding out the top five are Germany, providing 2.7 percent, and the Netherlands at 2.3 percent or $175 million for their bilateral programs as well as contributions to the Global Fund. In order to meet global HIV/AIDS targets, people need to “make sure that the traditional donors continue and scale up their commitment,” said Dr. Badara Samb, the chief of special initiatives for UNAIDS. According to Luiz Loures, UNAIDS deputy executive director, “countries still need urgent support over the next few years to fast-track their responses to HIV, enabling them to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030 and save millions of lives. Diverting resources from the HIV response now will mean much greater human and financial costs over the long term.” * Update, Dec. 2, 2016: This article has been updated with new text and analysis. Check out more insights and analysis for global development leaders like you, and sign up as an Executive Member to receive the information you need for your organization to thrive.