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Kenyan HIV/AIDS activists say they are being sidelined, as the world's generosity is focusing on victims of the recent tsunami disaster.
Mercy Otim, a Kenyan HIV/AIDS advocate and fundraiser, told Toronto's Globe and Mail newspaper that despite international donors denying her requests for funding by saying that there was not enough money, the international response to the tsunami disaster "has proved the money exists; it's there. They can get their hands on it quickly when they want to."
More than US $5 billion in tsunami relief has already been pledged, compared with $3.6 billion spent by Western governments on tackling HIV/AIDS last year.
"This just confirms that people don't really know the magnitude of HIV/AIDS ... It's a good thing that people can respond to the tsunami disaster and offer assistance, but the HIV problem is much, much worse. And the funds are just not there to help people," Otim pointed out.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions