In advance to the upcoming 36th Meeting of the Global Fund Board on the 16th and 17th of November, the representatives of Romanian civil society organizations, including people living with HIV and TB and key populations, published a joint statement to express their deep concern about the potential disconnect between a successful replenishment and the small or non-existent allocations that will be made available for countries like Romania and upper middle income countries with HIV epidemics that are still not controlled. They are afraid that there is a high risk that the allocation for the HIV component for Romania for the next three years could be zero – the same as it was the previous allocation period.
The last Global Fund HIV grant for Romania so far came to an end in 2010. Already in 2013, Romania’s HIV disease burden was increased to ‘high’. An alarm was issues and a targeted concept note was developed and submitted, but was not supported by the Global Fund. AT the same time, the key barrier to a sustainable HIV prevention program and HIV/AIDS sector in Romania is the lack of political will to fund the program by the Government. Results are devastating and organisations urge the Global Fund to introduce “a differentiated investment approach in which funding decisions are guided by considerations of need and impact.”
You can read the full joint statement following this link