RSS
RSS News Feeds 
Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance study confirms flat-lining of faith-based HIV/AIDS budgets
The full study can be found at:
http://www.e-alliance.ch/en/s/hivaids/
A pilot study commissioned by the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance confirms that faith-based organizations are experiencing shifts in funding that are reducing their capacity to provide HIV treatment. Funding reductions are also affecting the provision of other HIV-related services such as voluntary counseling and testing, lab services for CD4 counts, home-based care, social support, prevention, and care for orphans and vulnerable children. "I'm asking the question 'Which child do I have to say no to?'" said Father Richard Bauer, Executive Director of Catholic AIDS Action in Namibia, at a 21 July press conference at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna.
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation/UNAIDS report, global HIV funding declined for the first time since 2002 from $7.7 billion in 2008 to $7.6 billion in 2009. The EAA study sought to determine if faith-based organizations were experiencing a similar decline in funding and consequently having to scale back services, particularly in light of a report by the African Religious Health Assets Program stating that up to 70 percent of health services are provided by faith-based organizations in rural areas of Africa. Seventeen of the 19 faith-based organizations interviewed by consultant, Becky Johnson, in June 2010 had experienced declines in funding or flat-lined budgets, while two had no negative funding changes.
The impact of these shifts has varied, Johnson said, with some organizations having to take clients off treatment, delay treatment, or cap enrollments. A few organizations have been able to find other sources of funding to maintain service delivery. "It really is the faith-based services that have the longest history of being present in rural and remote areas around the world, long before [others] were ready to provide services," said Norway's AIDS Ambassador, Sigrun Møgedal, at the press conference. She noted that funding declines will require all organizations providing HIV services, including faith-based groups, to work together to cover community needs through increased collaboration and efficiency gains.
Catholic AIDS Action assists 14,000 orphans with education assistance and provides palliative care to 8,000 HIV-positive clients in Namibia. Bauer said he has yet to be told exact PEPFAR budget figures but is hearing cuts may be around 20 percent when final numbers are determined in October. The Global Fund has already told him to start cutting 10 percent right now, saying they will provide more exact amounts in coming months. "Faith-based organizations are hit hardest," Bauer added. Many faith-based programs provide high-quality services and a high level of compassion and personal care, he explained. As a result, clients don't leave. "Other programs have a natural attrition. They'll be less hit; they just won't add new people when people fall off," he explained.
Johnson noted that her research pointed to the need for consistent, long-term funding and donor commitment to maximize the effectiveness and reach of faith-based programs. Organizations interviewed also stated the need for an increased focus on health systems strengthening and nutrition support to better meet the needs of HIV-positive clients. "I lost a lot of my own mental health [scaling up], and then in the last six months it went from scale up to scale back with no guidance on how to do that," Father Bauer said. "There is no fat in our budget. I'm saying 'Do we have to get out of Windhoek, the capital, where there are other services?' but I refuse to get out of the rural areas where we're the only one."
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s) and not do necessarily reflect the views of the AfricaFiles' editors and network members. They are included in our material as a reflection of a diversity of views and a variety of issues. Material written specifically for AfricaFiles may be edited for length, clarity or inaccuracies.
top of page