Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) - March 1, 2006
Budget bottleneck: With billions of dollars pouring in to fight Africa's HIV/Aids epidemic, and despite a huge jump in overseas assistance and government Aids budgets, the cash earmarked to fight the epidemic is often not making it to the people who need it most.
Aid agency officials agree that the surge in Aids spending has created bottlenecks, with fragile healthcare systems, disorganised government departments and fledgling community groups often ill-prepared to absorb the money.
In Mozambique, officials say only a fraction of about 70 000 children eligible for Aids drug treatment will get it this year because of a shortage of trained doctors and nurses.
In badly hit South Africa, health departments report being unable to spend their Aids budgets, while in Nigeria inefficient bureaucracy has been blamed for missed treatment targets and questionable data.
Worldwide, Aids funding has jumped from $250-million in 1995 to more than $8-billion in 2005.
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