AIDS funding is justified, say activists

Calls for less spending on HIV and AIDS are unwarranted, because the pandemic remains an emergency that needs continued effort and funding, speakers at the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City have said.

"The epidemic is not over anywhere in the world," said Peter Piot, executive director of UNAIDS, at a press conference ahead of the opening ceremony on Sunday. "It will require a long-term response well beyond the few years ahead of us."

With the theme, "Universal Action Now", the conference brings together more than 22,000 delegates from around the world.

"For every person on HIV treatment, three new infections occur; we need to intensify prevention in the long term," Piot added. "But we also need to expand treatment: three million people in the developing world currently have access to treatment, but more than twice as many need it - entitlement to treatment is an entitlement to life."

For every person on HIV treatment, three new infections occur; we need to intensify prevention

There has been a backlash in recent months against the amount of health funding directed towards AIDS. An February article in the British Medical Journal, Roger England of Health Systems Workshop, a health-policy charity, pointed out that the epidemic receives about a quarter of global health aid but constitutes only five percent of the disease burden in low- and middle-income countries.

In 2007, US$10 billion was spent on the global AIDS response, but UNAIDS estimated that an additional US$8.1 billion was needed.

"There is a false idea that AIDS is getting too much money, which could be hurting other health efforts," commented Pedro Cahn, president of the International AIDS Society, which organised the conference. "In fact, the opposite is true - in countries where HIV services are provided, there has been a general improvement in treatment of tuberculosis, sexually transmitted infections and other illnesses.

"Building clinics and laboratories, training healthcare workers, and working with Ministries of Health to deliver HIV programmes means stronger health systems for everyone," he added. "This should never be a question of either or, but of how we can work together to benefit everyone in need. It is time for collaboration, not competition."

An estimated 33 million people around the world are living with HIV, and two million adults and children died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2007, according to UNAIDS.

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