Despite a broad commitment to combating the spread of HIV/Aids on the continent, African governments spend far too little of their own funds on intervention programmes, a new study has found. With the exception of South Africa, most relied, to a large extent, on donor funding.
A review of national budgets included in Funding the Fight: Budgeting for HIV/Aids in Developing Countries showed that strategic plans to tackle the virus were ”poorly costed and budgeted”.
The priority given to HIV/Aids programmes in health budgets varied significantly: Mozambican authorities spent just 1,6% of state funds on efforts to tackle the disease; Kenya invested 11% in 2002; and South Africa’s HIV/Aids budget climbed from 0,67% in 2000/01 to 3,86% in 2004/05.
The study, undertaken by local research institutes and coordinated by the Johannesburg-based Institute for Democracy, observed that tracking resources allocated to HIV/Aids in national budgets was hindered by ”weak or absent links” between allocations and their intended objectives.
One of the key findings was that most countries had focused on prevention rather than treatment. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 3,8-million Africans need treatment, but only 150 000 currently receive life-prolonging drugs.
Researchers have warned that although spending on HIV/Aids had increased since the launch of anti-retroviral treatment programmes in a handful of countries, it could be undermined if more money was not allocated to strengthen the health system.
All African countries fall below the 15% target on health spending they set at an Organisation of African Unity Summit in Nigeria in 2001. — Irin