Jamaica: More Money Needed for HIV Fight -- Local Group

Activists are warning that Jamaica's HIV/AIDS fight is dangerously dependent upon foreign funds, and they are calling for a 50 percent hike in government spending by 2015. "Although there has been increased spending over the past few years, the Planning Institute of Jamaica notes that there is still a 67 percent shortfall in funding available to achieve the targets set out in the National HIV Strategic Plan 2007-2012," said Civil Society Forum, a coalition of more than 50 AIDS groups. According to Pat Watson, executive director of the organization Eve for Life, "Too much of the current funding comes from external sources such as the Global Fund, and there is a real risk that when this is no longer available, the sustained impact on the epidemic will decline unless more local resources are dedicated to the response." Addressing a recent CSF meeting, UNAIDS Country Representative Dr. Pierre Somse said that "without the full and active involvement of a strong civil society in leading the HIV response, the gains made so far could be undermined." The Ministry of Health's budget this year for HIV prevention and treatment, $1.3 billion (US $15.3 million), comes largely from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

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