Brown fails his first test on AIDS
The UK has broken a key promise in the fight against AIDS, TB and Malaria. The UK contribution to Global Fund is just half what was promised.
Fund the fight against AIDS
istockphoto.com/Ken Hurst
Thanks to everyone who took action calling on the UK government to ensure the UK pays its way in the fight against AIDS, by contributing at least £700 million over the next 3 years to the Global Fund. Hundreds of emails were sent to the Department for International Development and the Prime Minister, and our demands were supported by opposition parties, and celebrities such as Elton John (who supports HIV/AIDS programmes around the world through the Elton John AIDS Foundation). The UK promised £1billion over eight years - a welcome long-term commitment, but falling far short of the total needed.
Over the last few years the Global Fund has saved more than two million lives, but it now needs funding to scale-up to save many more. G8 countries agreed to treble the size of the Global Fund by 2010, but have failed to provide the money to back their commitment up.
At the Global Fund’s ‘Replenishment Conference’, held on 25-27 September, key donor countries instead opted for marginal increases in resources.
This poor showing, particularly from G8 countries, follows Gordon Brown ‘s announcement at the Labour Party Conference that the UK would be pledging just half the amount of money required - and promised - to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.
The UK agreed to provide £360m over three years, rather than the £700m we are calling for - and which is needed to maintain its current share of funding and meet the G8 targets.
The facts
- At the G8 summit in June 2007, leaders promised to expand the Global Fund so that it could distribute up to $8bn annually by 2010 — costing $18bn over the next 3 years.
- The Global Fund was created in 2002 as a performance-based, transparent and multi-sectoral funding mechanism to combat Aids, TB and malaria. So far almost two million lives have been saved by Global Fund programmes, providing 1.1 million people with antiretroviral treatment for HIV, 2.8 million people with treatment for TB, and 30 million insecticide-treated bed nets to protect against malaria.
- Despite the 2005 G8 promise to achieve Universal Access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010, 72% of people in urgent need of treatment have no access to medicines.
- The UK’s contribution of £360m over three years (expanding to £1bn over 8 years), fell far short of the minimum 3-year contribution of £700m campaigners were calling for. 700m would mean the UK continues to pay its current share of funding - approximately 8% - as the Fund expanded to meet its target, agreed by the G8 in June 2007, of providing $6-8bn per year to AIDS, TB and Malaria programmes by 2010.
In total less than $10bn has been committed at the conference for the next three years, including projections from the USA and Japan who are not pledging at the Conference. This would leave a shortfall of over $8bn to meet the G8 commitment, which requires $18bn for the fund over the next 3 years.
Steve Cockburn from the Stop AIDS Campaign, a coalition of over 80 UK-based NGOs of which People & Planet is a member, said:
“We are very disappointed. While this money will save lives, much more needs to be raised to meet current and future needs. It can only be the first step. We were promised a war chest to fight 3 diseases that kill 6 million people every year, but what we have got today demonstrates a weakening of nerve.”
He said that whilst the long-term nature of the commitment was welcome, it could not divert attention from the scandalously low amounts pledged:
“It is astonishing how quickly promises become meaningless. In June the G8 promised to treble the size of the Global Fund by 2010, in order to tackle 3 diseases that kill 6 million people each year. Then in July, at the UN, Gordon Brown claimed moral leadership by warning the world that promises to tackle poverty and disease must be not be broken. Yet today he has done exactly that, and sadly the effect will be felt by millions of people affected by AIDS, TB and malaria across the world.”
NGOs are also calling for a further Replenishment Conference to be held within the next 18 months to ensure the Fund’s resources are topped-up. Steve Cockburn continued:
“Work needs to begin immediately to bridge the funding gap. We need another Replenishment Conference within the next 18 months. We urge Gordon Brown in particular to reclaim the moral high ground by heeding his own appeals to keep the promises made on fighting poverty and disease, and increase the UK’s pledge to the Global Fund.”
The pledges came just a day after UNAIDS announced that by 2010 up to $52bn will be needed each year to keep the world’s promise to achieve Universal Access to HIV Prevention, Treatment and Care by 2010. Global spending on AIDS in 2007 is just £10bn.
Concern was shared by organisations working on other diseases tackled by the Global Fund. Louis da Gama from Global Health Advocates noted that treating a child for malaria costs less than $1:
“For every dollar they have failed to pledge, a child will die of malaria. The Global Fund provides two-thirds of resources in the fight against TB and malaria, so for people suffering those diseases, there are few alternatives but for a fully funded Global Fund.”
- Read the Stop AIDS Campaign briefing on how much the UK should contribute to the Global Fund, and why.