The international community is losing the war on AIDS in Uganda and several neighboring countries, the New York Times reports. Several AIDS treatment clinics in the country are turning away new patients while some have trimmed their treatment slots and others have ceased operations all together.
Likewise, a U.S.-funded program in Mozambique was told to stop opening treatment centers. Clinics Tanzania and Botswana reduced the number of their treatment slots.
This comes as the number of new cases of HIV infection in African countries and other region of the world rises.
There are a variety of possible reasons to the shortfall in AIDS fight in Uganda and globally, including the global economic downturn and the growing trend among donors to focus money on fighting “cheaper” diseases, the Times says. Science has yet to produce a “magic bullet” to control the AIDS epidemic and old-fashion prevention measures have also flopped, the paper argues.
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine said he is “hugely frustrated” with the reception he is getting as he tours the world seeking donations.
“The consistent answer I hear is: ‘We love you, we hear you, we acknowledge the fund’s good results, but our budget is tight, our budget is cut, it’s the economic crisis,” Kazatchkine told the Times.
UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said donors give approximately USD10 billion a year to controlling the AIDS epidemic, which costs USD27 billion annually.
Sharonann Lynch of Doctors Without Borders said it was possible world leaders were tired of fighting the virus.
Several organizations and donors have recently changed their global health focus, the NYT notes. These include the U.S. with President Barack Obama’s new Global Health Initiative as well as the U.K. and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which both announced they are focusing on maternal and child health.
