AIDS spending on the rise - World Bank

Resources to tackle global HIV/AIDS have increased over recent years, from US $300 million in 1996 to $8 billion this year, according to a new World Bank report released during last week's international AIDS conference in Nigeria. Titled 'The World Bank's Global HIV/AIDS Programme of Action', the report said funding for AIDS in Africa had risen from an average of $10 million annually a decade ago to more than $250 million annually over the last four years. The report also laid out the Bank's future role in addressing the pandemic, saying it would remain a "major financier of AIDS activity globally", particularly in central and West Africa. The Bank has highlighted the importance of "predictable, multiyear bank funding" in helping hard-hit countries ensure sustainability of their anti-AIDS programmes.