Amid the global economic slowdown, HIV and AIDS funding from donor governments has stagnated in recent years. The United States — the largest donor to global AIDS relief — has even set in motion plans to gradually reduce HIV and AIDS spending in parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
Against this backdrop, the global AIDS community has been increasingly looking to the philanthropic sector to help fill an estimated $3 billion to $5 billion gap in HIV and AIDS financing. Last year’s annual report on global HIV and AIDS philanthropy from Funders Concerned About AIDS found that global HIV and AIDS funding from U.S. and European philanthropic donors totaled $644 million in 2011, up by 5 percent from 2010.
But this year’s recently released FCAA report suggests the modest uptick in global HIV and AIDS giving in 2011 may have been short-lived. According to the report, HIV and AIDS funding from U.S. and European philanthropic donors reached nearly $600 million in 2012, down 5 percent from inflation-adjusted 2011 figures. The report also forecasts that philanthropic support from the United States and Europe for HIV and AIDS worldwide is unlikely to increase in 2013.