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The NGO Doctors Without Borders believes that withdrawal of international funding for the fight against AIDS could undermine the progress made in recent years in reducing illness and deaths from this disease. These are the findings of a new report released by MSF.

According to the report, extending access to antiretroviral therapy has saved the lives of many people living with HIV / AIDS, and has also been important in reducing overall mortality rates of some southern African countries. For example, the NGO cites Malawi and South Africa, a country where there was a significant reduction in overall mortality in areas where access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) was high. Moreover, these programs have also had a positive impact on other diseases such as tuberculosis.

“Nearly a decade of efforts to increase access to treatment allowed us to observe substantial improvements for patients and the health service. But the recent decline in funding means that doctors and nurses are already obliged to refuse AIDS patients to their clinics, as in the 1990s, before the treatment is available, “said Dr. Tido von Schoen-Angerer, director of the Campaign for Access to MSF Essential Drugs.

Indeed, the international commitment to HIV / AIDS is decreasing. With the financial crisis, the board of the Global Fund, a key financier of programs to fight against AIDS, is now unable to meet the needs of the country. PEPFAR, the emergency plan of the United States in the fight against AIDS, decided not to increase its funding in the next two years.

According to MSF, the promise made in 2005 to ensure universal access to AIDS treatment by 2010, has encouraged many African governments to undertake ambitious programs of treatment. The reduction in funding may have a negative impact for people in urgent need of antiretroviral drugs and those already under treatment.

In Uganda, some structures were already forced to stop providing treatment to new patients living with HIV. Other countries are obliged to revise their ambitions in terms of formal treatment. Finally, the MSF report shows that, particularly in settings where prevalence is high, treating AIDS has a positive impact on other health issues, particularly on maternal and child health. “A stronger commitment to other health priorities should not be to the detriment of the commitment to the fight against HIV / AIDS” said Dr. von Schoen-Angerer.

In developing countries, more than four million people living with HIV / AIDS currently receive antiretroviral therapy. An estimated six million patients needing treatment do not always have access.

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