Experts warn of fund shortfall for AIDS

Posted November 03, 2009 16:47:00

Agence France-Presse

WASHINGTON—The fight against acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in developing countries is facing a drastic funding shortfall amid rapidly rising treatment and prevention costs during the global financial crisis, experts said Tuesday.

But the funding contraction also presents an opportunity to do better with less and save more lives by eliminating waste while improving the efficiency of medical care, said Robert Hecht, co-author of a study published in journal Health Affairs.

"We are on the verge of a serious crisis," said Hecht, who is also managing director of the Results for Development Institute in Washington, which specializes in health programs for low- and middle-income countries.

"The cost of fighting the epidemic for treatment and prevention is rising very rapidly around the world, especially in southeastern Africa," said Hecht.

Financial resources available to combat the disease are becoming "scarcer and scarcer and more under strain in part because of the global recession and competition for development funds in other area," he told AFP.

By 2031, when the AIDS pandemic will enter its 50th year, developing countries could need up to $35 billion annually to fight the disease—three times the current level—according to the study's authors.

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