>Smarter.
Smart investments that drive increased programme impact The AIDS epidemic is not over yet, but the end may be in sight if countries invest smartly. In the next five years, smart investments can propel the AIDS response towards achieving the vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. To ensure value for money, lessons learned from the past three decades must be effectively applied. Investing smartly, investing for results The current economic crisis and dwindling international resources have reduced the financial resources made available for the AIDS response. At the end of 2010 about US$ 15 billion was available. International assistance has declined from US$ 8.7 billion in 2009 to US$ 7.6 billion in 2010. The resilience of the AIDS response has somewhat cushioned the adverse impact of this reduction in resources, but the accumulated deficit in funding is one of the factors that prevented the world from reaching all the goals set in 2001 for 2010. The future of AIDS resourcing depends on smart investing: spending now to curtail the need to ‘spend more – forever’. In June 2011, Member States agreed on a new set of global targets, including making at least US$ 22–24 billion available for the global HIV response annually by 2015. This level of resourcing is critical if the new global goals are to be achieved. Even more critical is that these resources are invested wisely in order to maximise return, to achieve value for money. A new UNAIDS Investment Framework provides a roadmap for such an approach, tying investments to concrete results. The Investment Framework for the global HIV response starts with the premise that, while there have been tremendous gains in the global response to HIV, a systematic effort to match investment to needs has so far been largely lacking. The resulting mismatch has stretched scarce resources too thinly over too many objectives. The framework represents a radical departure from current approaches, and has four clear aims: • Maximizing the benefits of the HIV response • Using country-specific epidemiology to ensure rational resource allocation • Encouraging countries to implement the most effective programmes based on local context • Increasing efficiency in HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
26 | UNAIDS WORLD AIDS DAY REPORT