EU needs to increase its spending against HIV/AIDS to stop the deadly disease

In a new report published on December 1, World AIDS Day 2015, the ONE Campaign warned of a growing complacency in the global fight against HIV/AIDS and sounded the alarm over an annual shortfall in what is needed to finally stop the epidemic.

AIDS is still deadly. 37 million people lived with HIV/AIDS last year. 2 million people became infected with HIV last year.1.2 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses last year — 3,200 every day.Only 40 percent of those living with HIV/AIDS are able to access treatment.

Data from last year show that the world has still not reached a critical tipping point, where the number of people newly added to Antiretroviral Treatments surpasses the number of people newly infected with HIV. The disease is also ‘sexist’: seventy-four percent of adolescents in Africa who contract HIV are girls, making AIDS a leading cause of death for young women there.

ONE Campaign is an international advocacy organization. It stresses that the next five years are a unique window of opportunity in the trajectory of the AIDS epidemic. If the world increases its investment from currently €15 billion to €28 billion per year into the fight against HIV/AIDS by 2020, the trajectory of the epidemic would be successfully bent toward its end.

“Since 2012 the European Commission has more than halved its bilateral disbursements for AIDS programmes,” Tamira Gunzburg, Director of ONE Brussels, says.

“However it has always been one of the leading donors of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Next year’s Global Fund replenishment affords a great opportunity for this new Commission to step up its support, by increasing its annual contribution to 150€ million per year to help tackle this deadly disease.’’

M.Apelblat
The Brussels Times


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