The Hindu : `Rise in HIV prevention spending needed'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 14, 2003

National

National

`Rise in HIV prevention spending needed'

By N. Gopal Raj

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM MAY 13. A nearly six-fold rise in HIV prevention spending was needed in key Asian countries, including India, over the next two years if a major increase of the AIDS epidemic was to be prevented, says a report from the Global HIV Prevention Working Group.

The report, titled "Access to HIV Prevention: Closing the Gap,'' which has just been released, finds that the global annual spending on HIV prevention should be increased by $ 3.8 billions during the same period. More than 40 million people were at present infected with HIV, the virus which causes AIDS, far more than had been predicted a decade ago and the epidemic showed few signs of slowing, the report noted.

"The world's success in turning the tide against HIV/AIDS will be determined in great part by whether the epidemic can be curbed in Asia. Not only is the region the world's most populous, but alarming increase in infection rates in India, China and Indonesia raise the prospect of a major expansion of the epidemic,'' it warned.

China and India stood "on the brink of widespread epidemics'' as HIV spread from high-risk groups to the broader population. U.S. intelligence experts believe that HIV/AIDS is poised to escalate in India, creating up to 20 to 25 million new infections between now and 2010, according to the report.

The Group, however, also pointed out that a massive expansion of the epidemic was not inevitable. Two-thirds of the 45 million new HIV infections that are projected to occur between now and 2010 could be averted if proven prevention strategies, used in combination, could be dramatically scaled up.

There was no magic bullet which would stop the spread of HIV. Instead, a range of intervention strategies had to be used in combination to target the many diverse populations affected and the various routes for HIV transmission. At present, fewer than one in five people living in the world had access to basic HIV prevention programmes.

Such interventions would be even more potent if they were closely linked with treatment, care and support programmes.

International donors and the Asian countries themselves have been slow in providing the critical financial support needed for preventive measures. Such programmes currently received only $ 421 millions a year.

By 2005, Asian countries would need approximately $1.9 billions annually to mount a comprehensive HIV prevention effort, a sum which would grow to more than $ 2.4 billions by 2007.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation to inform global policy-making convened the Global HIV Prevention Working Group, a panel of nearly 40 leading experts.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National