The authors of the report attribute support for 1,265,000 of those receiving treatment to funding and resources provided by President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The U.S. Government is the largest donor to the Global Fund, and provides roughly thirty percent of its funding. The World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) published the report entitled, Towards Universal Access: Scaling up priority HIV/AIDS interventions in the health sector.
The report also shows the need to ensure that certain populations benefit from the increased resources dedicated to prevention, and the care and treatment of those living with HIV/AIDS. For example, according to the report, only 11 percent of HIV-positive pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries are receiving anti-retrovirals (ARVs) to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT).
The report also brings attention to several aspects of the pandemic where a greater focus could produce benefits for those living with HIV/AIDS, including continuing to increase the number of HIV-positive children who receive treatment. While the percentage of children on ARVs increased significantly in the last year, the base measure was low, and UNAIDS estimates that, overall, only 15 percent of the children in need of HIV treatment had access to it.
Other recommendations in the report include the following:
● Invest in prevention for people living with HIV/AIDS;
● Improve access for people living with HIV/AIDS to quality tuberculosis prevention, diagnosis and treatment; and
● Recognize male circumcision as a potentially important, additional HIV-prevention intervention.
