Reducing HIV/AIDS Funding for Ethiopia

A 11 September blog posting on the Center for Global Development site by Amanda Glassman and Kate McQueston warns of possible negative fallout from proposed cuts for HIV/AIDS spending in Ethiopia. They note that Ethiopia will experience a 79 percent reduction in 2013 US HIV financing from PEPFAR and point out that Global Fund monies have gone almost completely undisbursed in 2012. The idea is to allocate more funding to more impoverished countries or those that spend the money more efficiently. They conclude, however, that "when you're funding life-saving care for a defined population and you're not able to connect money to patients, cutting abruptly is a terrible idea."

While the warning is well-taken, Ethiopia has received more funding from the Global Fund than any other country and the HIV positive rate has declined significantly as compared to ten years ago. Much of the reduction in the HIV positive rate may be due to more accurate sampling of the population. When resources are finite, it is difficult to counter the argument that more funds need to go to countries that have a greater need.

Click here to read the blog entry.