Don’t Stop Now: How underfunding the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria impacts on the HIV response

In November 2011, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) announced that its next scheduled funding round was canceled and that no new grants could be funded until 2014. This financial blow comes at the worst moment – when the use of antiretroviral drugs for treatment and prevention has dramatically reduced mortality from HIV and reduced transmission of AIDS. Now, all hopes of entering a new phase of the HIV response are effectively put on hold until at least 2014, and progress on many fronts may actually be reversed. The effects on individuals and communities will be devastating. This report draws on recently collected field data from numerous countries where the International HIV/AIDS Alliance operates to explain why the funding crisis requires urgent action on the part of Global Fund donors and all other stakeholders. The Alliance’s recommendations for responding to the crisis are based on an analysis of the implications of funding shortfalls in the following specific areas: HIV treatment; HIV prevention; care and support; services for
key populations at higher risk of HIV infection; and efforts to create an enabling environment.