Insufficient funding for key populations jeopardises ending AIDS by 2030
Insufficient funding for key populations jeopardises ending AIDS by 2030
In 2016, the global community agreed to work together to end AIDS by 2030. United Nations Member States backed the UNAIDS Fast-Track strategy to realise this vision. Key populations were recognised as being central to achieving this ambitious goal. Yet, three years into the strategy, funding for HIV programming for key populations is way off track. To end AIDS by 2030, there needs to be a rapid scale-up of funding for effective HIV programmes for key populations.
This #DoTheMath campaign was created by the Bridging the Gaps partnership with the purpose to raise much-needed attention to the funding gaps that still exist and to make a clear call for more and better investment into key population HIV responses.
2% of funding reaches key populations
In 2018, for the first time, key populations and their partners accounted for the majority - 54 per cent - of all new infections worldwide. This has since increased to 62%. In the Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, key populations accounted for more than 95 per cent new infections.
Between 2016 and 2018, total combined resources for the HIV response in Lower and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) was approximately $57.3 billion, whereas the total funding of HIV programmes for key populations in LMICs is estimated at around US$1.3 billion. So, during the first three years of the Fast Track approach, programmes targeting key populations received only 2% of all HIV funding, even though key populations accounted for over half of all new infections in 2018.
The resource gap for HIV programming for key populations was much bigger than the funding gap for the overall HIV response in LMICs. In 2016, UNAIDS estimated that $6.3 billion was necessary for the delivery of comprehensive service packages for key populations between 2016 and 2018. Another $551 million was required for the distribution of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to these communities, making a total of $6.8 billion needed. So, there was a staggering gap of 80% between the budget required for HIV programmes targeting key populations ($6.8 billion) and the amount made available ($1.3 billion).
The available data reveals how large the gaps between estimates and the reality are
-
2% of all HIV funding goes to programmes targeting key populations
-
<1% of funding goes to programmes targeting gay and bisexual men in LMICs5
(2016-2018) -
0.06% of funding goes to programmes targeting transgender people in LMICs
(2016-2018) -
0.6% of funding goes to programmes targeting sex workers in LMICs
(2016-2018) -
0.4% of funding goes to programmes targeting people who inject drugs in LMICs
(2016-2018) -
20% of estimated resources for HIV programming for gay and bisexual men in 28 Fast-Track LMICs was available
(2016-2018) -
20% of estimated resources for HIV programming for transgender people in LMICs was available
(2016-2018) -
<20% of estimated resources for HIV programming for sex workers in 28 Fast-Track LMICs was available
(2016-2018)
#DoTheMath
We can only stop the spread of HIV and its impact by focusing on the groups most left behind #DoTheMath
Help us create awareness for these numbers by spreading our messages:
- “We can only stop the spread of HIV and its impact by focusing on the groups most left behind.”
- “In 2018, programmes targeting key populations receive only 2% of all HIV funding, even though key populations accounted for over half of all new infections.”
- “There is currently a funding gap of nearly US$7 billion that needs to be filled and re-allocated to key populations.”
- “The most cost-effective strategy to end AIDS by 2030 is for a rapid scale-up of funding for HIV programmes for key populations at all levels.”
- “Insufficient funding for key populations jeopardises ending AIDS by 2030.”
- “Donors must honour their pledges to ensure at least 30% all service delivery is community-led, and that proportionate funding is available.”