Letter from the Executive Director

Dear all,

This issue of the aids2031 Newsletter features three papers from the Costs and Financing Working Group which were recently published – one in Health Affairs and two in BioMed Central – bringing attention to the long-term implications of resource allocation choices today for the future of AIDS.

The theme of making evidence-informed choices, being more targeted and improving efficiency is emerging across all of our work in aids2031. It also reflects the importance of allocating resources and developing programs specific to the local setting and needs. The mantra "know your epidemic" is about knowing the social and political as well as the epidemiological face(s) of HIV/AIDS in order to make the right choices for a better future by 2031.

Best wishes,

Heidi Larson, PhD
Executive Director of aids2031

Working Group News & Notes

Health Affairs calls attention to aids2031 findings

What are the global resource needs for AIDS over the next 25 years? What unanticipated developments could dramatically affect those costs? And how can resources be used wisely and equitably to reach those most-in-need of prevention and treatment?

The aids2031 Costs and Financing Working Group addresses these and other vital questions for the HIV response in the new article, “Critical Choices In Financing The Response To The Global HIV/AIDS Pandemic.” The article appears alongside other analyses on the state of the HIV pandemic in the November/December 2009 issue of Health Affairs, a leading policy journal for global health.

While the costs of treating and preventing HIV remain substantial over the next two decades, investing in prevention for people whose behaviors put them most-at-risk for HIV transmission could significantly alter the epidemic. The group also points out that while funding interventions that address the structural drivers of HIV increases costs initially, funding such interventions have the potential to pay off in the long run by greatly lowering new HIV infections.

To adequately address the HIV epidemic, policy makers must spend effectively and find innovative ways to expand HIV/AIDS financing. The article calls for developing countries, particularly those transitioning to middle-income countries, to expand their domestic funding for AIDS when possible and for donors to sustain their financial support over the long-term.

New publications

Authors of two aids2031 Costs and Financing Working Group papers published background papers this month in the BMC Public Health Journal. To read "The past, present and future of HIV, AIDS and resource allocation" by Steven Forsythe, John Stover and Lori Bollinger and "Factors influencing global antiretroviral procurement prices" by Veronika J Wirtz, Steven Forsythe, Atanacio Valencia-Mendoza and Sergio Bautista-Arredondo, please click here.