A new Kaiser/UNAIDS study released today at the start of the International AIDS Society Conference in Paris finds donor government funding for the global HIV response declined by 7% in 2016 and is at its lowest level since 2010. This is the second year in a row that major donor governments have reduced spending on life-saving HIV treatment and prevention. 

Health GAP Senior Policy Analyst Matt Kavanagh said: “This report should be a stark wake up call for anyone who cares about saving lives and ending the global HIV epidemic. Just as we’re on the precipice of success and have finally reached 50% of people living with HIV on treatment to save their lives and halt HIV transmission, we get another reminder that politics is enabling the AIDS pandemic. 

"Rich countries agreed to a global strategy, now it is working, and the money they promised is missing. The funding gap is a rounding error in budgets of rich countries. Even the U.S. House Republican budget has prioritized global AIDS--what excuse can our leaders have for cutting budgets and undermining the AIDS response besides cowardice and hypocrisy?” 

According to the study, bilateral disbursements for HIV from donor countries declined by $108 million in 2016 compared to 2015. Nine of 14 donors profiled in the analysis disbursed less bilateral funding in 2016 than in 2015, and three increased. 

Kavanagh is available at the IAS Conference at: +1-202-486-2488 and [email protected]. 

About Health GAP:

Health GAP is an international advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that all people living with HIV have access to affordable life sustaining medicines. Our team pairs pragmatic policy work with audacious grassroots action to win equitable access to treatment, care and prevention for people living with and affected by HIV worldwide. We are dedicated to eliminating barriers to universal access to affordable life sustaining medicines for people living with HIV/AIDS as key to a comprehensive strategy to confront and ultimately stop the AIDS pandemic. We believe that the human right to life and to health must prevail over the pharmaceutical industry's excessive profits and expanding patent rights.