AEGiS-WSJ: AIDS Fight in Poor Nations Faces Financial Gap, Logistical Woes

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

AIDS Fight in Poor Nations Faces Financial Gap, Logistical Woes

Wall Street Journal - March 10, 2005
Gautam Naik at gautam.naik@wsj.com

LONDON - The fight against HIV and AIDS in developing countries faces a funding shortfall of more than $8 billion over the next three years and the additional challenge of getting key Western donors to coordinate their projects, officials leading the effort said.

But even spending all available funds will be a challenging task. Most developing countries don't have the infrastructure to absorb a large amount of donor money, and are tussling with severe shortages of nurses, doctors and scientists.

Last year, $6.1 billion was spent to fight AIDS and prevent the spread of HIV , the virus that causes the disease, in low- and middle-income countries. Those costs are projected to rise significantly between 2005 and 2007 -- but the pool of pledged funds for that period is short by $8.2 billion, according to UNAIDS, a United Nations agency.

At the same time, big Western donors, including governments, the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and independent health groups, often have overlapping approaches, conflicting ideologies and varying paperwork requirements that overwhelm the health ministries of developing countries.

"Lack of good coordination claims lives," said Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS. "Before there was money, it was only a theoretical issue." But with money increasingly available, he added, spending it effectively is a major challenge.

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