Media examine funding for HIV/AIDS as disease turns 30

Jun 1 2011

"As the war on AIDS heads into its fourth decade, the need for funds is spiralling relentlessly higher, prompting a quest for new resources from consumer levies to contributions from developing giants," Agence France-Presse/France 24 reports (5/30).

While PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have significantly contributed to "progress made in the last decade" to fight the disease, "both are now seeing the amount of money they have to spend on the problem level off," the Washington Post writes. "Everyone agrees that, from now on, low-income countries will have to devote more of their budgets to AIDS. But some fear they will be asked to shoulder too much too soon," the newspaper notes (Brown, 5/30).

The CNN special "Stories: Reporter" on Saturday reported on PEPFAR and how "a budget-slashing effort in Congress this year threatens to bring much of [its] progress to a sudden and catastrophic halt." The story also highlights "The Lazarus Effect," an HBO film that was commissioned by the ONE campaign, that is being used by church leaders nationwide to encourage congregation members to speak out in support of U.S. foreign aid (Marrapodi/Acosta/Foreman, 5/30).