 
August 14, 2009
Misdirected, Limited Funding in Asia and the Pacific Hinders HIV Efforts
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is concerned that the limited financial resources available for HIV initiatives in Asia and the Pacific have gone toward ineffective programs, reports The Jakarta Post.
According to Swarup Sarkar, Asia unit director of the Global Fund, $3.1 billion is needed to help curb the spread of HIV in both regions, but only an estimated $0.8 billion has been made available. Sarkar noted that the limited budget has been used for “low–impact” preventative measures that haven’t successfully decreased new HIV infections.
“More than 80 percent of the available budget has gone to low-risk young people, compared with less than 20 percent that has gone to high-risk young people,” Sarkar said. The remarks were made in Nusa Dua, Bali, during the ninth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP).
For example, Sarkar said, costly interventions such as blood safety regulation and safe injection for intravenous drug users prevent only 1 percent of new HIV infections but absorb 25 percent of the budget.
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