African Governments and the African Union: Invest Sustainable Domestic Resources in Health and HIV Responses.

Invest Sustainable Domestic Resources in Health and HIV Responses.

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: African Governments and the African Union.
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We the signed on members of civil society and organisations call on African Governments and the African Union to consider as an emergency issue the necessity to develop a clear time-bound Health and HIV funding strategy and action plan focused on domestic resources for HIV by 2012.

Against the backdrop of another pending Global financial crisis, many government donor agencies and international donors are reviewing their financial commitments to funding Health and HIV on the African continent. An annual funding analysis released by UNAIDS and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that international funding for AIDS programmes in developing countries has dropped by 10% in 2010. Many African countries are facing the real threat of not meeting their budget requirements for implementing the much needed scale up of ART programmes, relying heavily on the Global Fund and PEPFAR to sustain these programmes.

At its recent board meeting in Accra, Ghana; the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced that it would be cancelling funding for “Round 11”. This is an unprecedented decision since the inception of the Fund in 2002. The Fund reiterated that a replacement strategy would be adopted as the Fund did not meet its budget commitments. This is further exacerbated by low levels of funding pledges in 2010. A significant number of unfulfilled funding pledges from previous donors, as well as lower than anticipated contributions. In place of “Round 11”, the Global Fund will make provision for a “transitional funding mechanism” which allows eligible countries, faced with a disruption of programs before 2013 to apply for funding to cover essential prevention, care and treatment costs. On World AIDS Day 2011 President Obama announced that the U.S. will get 6 million people access to antiretroviral AIDS treatment through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief; this would double the pace of scale up for the program. But this still is not enough to meet the demand.

The past few years have seen activists from around the world and most importantly from the continent campaign for African Governments to set clear and realisable targets for Health and HIV and commit to it. The Abuja Declaration adopted in April 2001 by African leaders declared the response to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and other related infections as the highest priority issue in their respective national development plans, committing 15% of their national budgetary allocations to health.

Now, 10 years down the line only a handful of countries have achieved this target, with the regional average remaining at 7%. And even then this regional average is largely influenced by international donor funding; and not domestic resources. At the heads of states high-level meeting in June 2011 all leaders recommitted to this target, further recommitting to the achievement of Universal Access “Zero Discrimination, Zero New Infections and Zero Deaths” and the achievement of all the MDG’s. One of the most glaring challenges in honouring these commitments is the country dependence on external or international funding to sustain programmes.

Civil Society calls on African Heads of State to implement the Abuja Declaration; to honour the recommitment to the Political Declaration toward Universal Access. Now more than ever we need our African Governments to play a proactive role; and to step up and Invest Sustainable Domestic Resources in Health and HIV Responses. It is time for Africa’s financial ownership of the response to HIV and AIDS!!

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Sincerely,

[Your name]