Dakar, Senegal (1 December, 2008) - As most Western governments are looking to tighten their purse-strings in response to the global financial crisis, Save the Children warns that any cut in HIV and AIDS funding would put the life of more African children in danger.

On the eve of the International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa (ICASA) held in Dakar, Senegal, 3-7 December, Save the Children is calling on both African governments and the international community to keep their promise and commitments to AIDS and children despite the financial crisis.

In the face of turmoil in the global financial markets, there is a risk that foreign aid funding, including support for HIV and AIDS programs, will be less of a priority as governments move to address financial issues close to home.

“HIV and AIDS-impacted children in Africa  -- who have never heard of Wall Street  -- should not pay the price for the global economic decline,” says Amé David, Save the Children spokesperson in Dakar. “It is unfortunate that Western governments can mobilise hundreds of billions to save the banking sector, but not enough to provide care and support for all African children at high-risk of exposure to HIV and AIDS.”

Despite annual increases in funding – US$10 billion in 2007 -  the current level of resources has fallen short of what is needed to meet the target of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2010. At the Group of Eight (G8) Summit last July, the most industrialised countries agreed to spend $60 billion over five years to fight diseases such as HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa. In a position statement, U.S. President-elect Barack Obama pledged to provide at least $50 billion by 2013 for the global fight against HIV and AIDS. France has also become the largest European donor to the Global Fund and one of the leading contributors to a range of HIV-responding initiatives in Africa with funding of 360 million euros yearly.

“Funding HIV and AIDS programmes is a wise investment”, says Tonya Nyagiro, HIV and AIDS expert from Save the Children. “All the encouraging gains in HIV prevention, care and support that have been made for children could be drastically reversed in with a sudden cut in aid funding. We simply cannot afford it. Either we sustain and accelerate our efforts or we loose most of the progress made in the past decades.”

HIV/AIDS in Africa

The spread of HIV and AIDS in Africa is preventable. Providing timely and accurate information and access to appropriate treatment can dramatically reduce HIV infections among children, young people and families. Save the Children experience evidence has demonstrated effective ways to enable children affected by HIV and AIDS to live productive and normal lives.

As a result of the pandemic, children often tend to drop out of school, eat less nutritious food and engage in unsafe and hazardous work as they become the breadwinners. Orphans are at increased risk of violence, sexual coercion and extreme poverty. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to nearly 90 percent of all children living with HIV. Less than one out of twenty HIV-positive and HIV-exposed children get prophylaxis treatment -- without which half of them will die before the age of 2. Less than one-third of HIV-positive pregnant women receive the services and medication they need to keep their babies safe from contracting HIV and AIDS.

Save the Children continues the fight to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS 

Save the Children's work spans from prevention to care, mitigation and support, focusing on three priority areas for children: orphans and vulnerable children, youth at risk, and the prevention of mother-to-child-transmission and pediatric AIDS. Together with governments, African NGOs and other partners, Save the Children has supported hundreds of thousands of children and caregivers in many places like Ethiopia, Somalia, South Africa, Southern Sudan, Malawi, Senegal or Côte d’Ivoire. In some of these African countries both children and their parents have gained access to affordable and appropriate treatment, care and support that are critical to save the lives of both mother and newborn.  

As the largest international gathering on health-related issues in Africa, the International Conference on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa brings together 7,000 researchers, policymakers, activists, educators and children to share ideas and experiences on how to better respond to HIV and AIDS in Africa. Save the Children will ensure the voices of African children and youth are heard.

For more information

Please contact the Media Contact (in Senegal):  Laurent Duvillier, Save the Children Sweden Cell: 00 221 77 637 66 04 / Tel : 00 221 33 869 19 64