New Report from FCAA Shows Philanthropic Funding for HIV at Lowest Point in Seven Years
Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) December 08, 2014 -- A new report by Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) showed that global private funding for HIV totaled US$ 592 million, an 8% decrease (US$44 million) from 2012, and the lowest level of funding since 2007. The report, Philanthropic Support to Address HIV/AIDS in 2013, also revealed that only 3% or US$ 0.5 billion of total international funding available for HIV in low- and middle-income countries in 2013 was from philanthropic sources.
The overall decline may be attributed to a number of factors, including the closure of two large funders (The Irene Diamond Fund and The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund), at least five funders closing or reducing their HIV-specific portfolios, and several major pharmaceutical companies shifting some funding to other health areas such as Hepatitis C, chronic diseases and maternal and child health. Overall the field continues to remain strongly influenced by the world’s largest philanthropic funder of HIV, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which represented more than a third of all funding and decreased grantmaking to HIV by $11 million from 2012 to 2013.
“We are at a serious crossroads. We have been presented with the opportunities of new scientific developments and political commitments that could, if fully funded and implemented, move us closer to an AIDS-free generation,” said John L. Barnes, Executive Director of FCAA. “But this progress is threatened by continued decreases in funding from private philanthropic donors who provide critical support for protecting the human rights of key populations who remain most at risk for HIV and AIDS.”
Other key findings:
• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, M.A.C AIDS Fund, Gilead Sciences, Inc., Wellcome Trust and the Ford Foundation ranked as the top five philanthropic HIV funders in 2013.
• Funding from U.S.-based philanthropies totaled US$ 431 million in 2013, decreasing 4% from 2012. The majority of funding was directed outside of the U.S., to international (35%) or global non-country specific (43%) support, with only $95 million (22%) directed to the epidemic within the domestic U.S.
• Among E.U.-based philanthropies, the 2013 total reached US$133 million, decreasing 16% from 2012. This continues a two-year decline since 2011. Support from funders based outside of the U.S. and Western and Central Europe totaled US$28 million, essentially flat from 2012 (a 1% or US $0.3 million increase).
This year’s report also includes the first analysis of total funding directed to target populations, offering a critical tool to understand and examine if the distribution of funding matches need within the epidemic. The top five target populations of funding in 2013 included women, people living with HIV/AIDS (where there was no further target population specified), orphaned and vulnerable children, and youth. Research projects also received the most funding of any category, with the research mostly targeting a general population.
Additional detail about target populations and intended use of giving, including by geographical area, is available in the full report.
According to a new report from UNAIDS, a US $17.2 billion annual global resource gap exists between current funding and what is needed to reach the 2020 targets set for reducing new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths by 90% annually by 2030. These ‘fast-track’ targets are estimated to yield US$15 in economic returns for every US$1 spent as healthy people generate more income, while health systems infrastructure is also built that can serve broader health needs. According to this new analysis, if these targets are not met and HIV prevention and treatment services continue at current levels, an additional 28 million people will be infected with HIV by 2020, and an additional 21 million people will die of AIDS.
The issue of HIV has lost some attention of the broader U.S-based philanthropic community, with only 64 cents of every US$100 awarded by U.S. foundations and charities going to HIV issues. The report also found that smaller U.S.-based funders (those funding US$300k or less) in particular reduced HIV-related grantmaking, with 58 fewer organizations reporting funding to HIV in 2013 compared to 2012.
The FCAA annual resource tracking report, which was launched today at the FCAA 2014 AIDS Philanthropy Summit, is the most comprehensive study of its kind, capturing data on 8,986 grants awarded by 204 foundations in effort to identify gaps, trends, and opportunities in HIV-related philanthropy.
Download Philanthropic Support to Address HIV/AIDS in 2013 at http://www.fcaaids.org/resourcetracking
Media Contacts
Sarah Hamilton | tel. +1 509 336 9240 | sarah(at)fcaaids(dot)org
About FCAA: Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) was founded in 1987 with the mission to mobilize the philanthropic leadership, ideas and resources of funders to eradicate the global HIV/AIDS pandemic and to address its social and economic dimensions.
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Sarah Hamilton, Funders Concerned About AIDS, +1 (509) 336-9240, [email protected]
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