Civil society urges increase in domestic spending on HIV across Eastern Europe and Central Asia

A Georgia-based NGO has launched an online petition it hopes will attract regional support for a greater push by governments to fill the anticipated vacuum that will be left once the Global Fund no longer commits significant financial support to a majority of EECA countries.

The regional initiative spearheaded by the Georgia Union of People Livin with HIV “Real People, Real Vision” group will also include advocacy targeting governments in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova, The Russian Federation and Ukraine. The campaign, ‘Health can be purchased, put the price in the budget’ seeks to ensure that government provides stable, quality and free treatment for all people living with HIV.

EECA remains the only region where generalized HIV prevalence is rising, according to a 2012 report from UNAIDS. However, because of a shift in the Global Fund’s approach towards high impact, low income countries, many of the states in the region that are classified by the World Bank as middle-income may see a precipitous drop in the amount of financial support they get from the Fund, from 2015. And while governments have committed to provide funding for treatment and care programming, it is prevention and harm reduction activities, specifically targeting key populations, that are especially vulnerable.

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