Action, funding still lag behind in the fight against HIV

HIV/AIDS has finally reached the top of the African agenda, according to a new UNAIDS report released on Sunday. However, the increasing political attention the epidemic has received has not translated into sufficient action, as total funding for HIV/AIDS was only half of what was needed, the report, "Accelerating Action against AIDS in Africa" noted. Speaking at a press conference at the 13th International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (ICASA), being held in Nairobi from 21 to 26 September, the UNAIDS director of country and regional support, Michel Sidibe, admitted that progress had been made in the continent's fight against the disease during the last two years. Resources have begun to flow - UNAIDS estimates that about US $950 million was spent to fight HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa last year - but although this was an increase of US $400 million since 2000, more was needed to implement and expand prevention and care programmes. African leaders such as presidents Festus Mogae of Botswana and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, had taken the lead in not only speaking out on HIV/AIDS, but in backing this up with action. Leaders in other countries such as Kenya were now taking similar steps, the report said. Behaviour change was slowly taking place and there had been a reduction in HIV prevalence among young girls in Ethiopia and young people in Zambia, Sidibe pointed out. "They said behaviour change would not happen...this is not true. Prevention is working," he said. But all these "exciting developments" were not enough, he added. The report outlined three major challenges the continent had to grapple with. Firstly, the scaling up of antiretroviral treatment programmes was crucial for an effective response. At the end of 2002, only 1 percent of the 4.1 million people who needed it in Africa were receiving treatment - even though the demands for treatment have been growing louder through AIDS activism - the report found. The increasing impact of the epidemic on African women could no longer be ignored. The report called for additional focus on women in any response against the epidemic. But national coordinator for Rwanda of the Society of Women against AIDS in Africa, Rose Gahire, remained skeptical. "Money is coming in to Africa but how much of this is reaching women? Women and youth are still marginalised in government programmes," she told IRIN. There had been "too much talk" about the plight of women in Africa, but this still had to be translated into action Gahire added. Thirdly, the humanitarian crisis in Southern Africa had highlighted the complexity of the epidemic and the need to integrate HIV/AIDS responses with broader development initiatives. The report is available at: www.unaids.org