A stocktake review of DFID’s work on HIV and AIDS

Publications

A stocktake review of DFID’s work on HIV and AIDS

14 September 2017
STOPAIDS

Incredible progress has been made in the HIV response: paving the way for an ambitious target within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. But progress is beginning to slow. New infections remain stubbornly high and in 2016 1.8 million people became newly infected with HIV1. AIDS-related deaths have decreased as treatment has improved but amongst some age groups, notably adolescents, AIDS-related deaths are actually increasing2. Many countries continue to impose discriminatory legal frameworks on people living with HIV and people most affected by HIV. At this critical time support from donors for the HIV response is also diminishing, and in 2016 donor government funding declined for the second consecutive year, this time by $500 million

  • DFID’s overall funding for HIV is declining (22% between 2012 and 2015). Cuts to country offices have cancelled out DFID’s increased Global Fund contribution. Funding for civil society has been particularly hard hit, declining from £30m in 2011 to just £8m in 2015.
  • In response to parliamentary questions and letters, DFID have articulated an ambitious set of priorities closely aligned with UNAIDS strategy but are struggling to measure and demonstrate cumulative impact within the HIV response. DFID do not have an effective mechanism to assess whether HIV has been successfully integrated into wider health and development programmes.
  • DFID’s political commitment to the HIV response has been inconsistent. HIV is absent from significant DFID strategies, and DFID have missed several international HIV conferences. But there are some positive indications that the tide is beginning to change

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